Patient Experience At Endoscopy Centers In Three West African Countries During The Covid-19 Pandemic

Aims The aim of this study was to assess the experience of patients in endoscopy rooms in three West African countries during the COVID-19 epidemic.

Methods This was a multicenter cross-sectional study that took place over a period of 3 months (June to August 2020) in endoscopy centers in Burkina Faso, Benin and Niger. An online survey was sent to patients who had performed upper and lower digestive endoscopies, in 8 endoscopy centers including private, public and confessional health centers. The survey were either sent electronically or completed in the endoscopy room with the help of field investigators, according to patients’ preferences. The choice of centers was randomly made from the list of centers.

Results A total of 294 patients answered to the online survey. There were 37 lower endoscopies and 257 upper endoscopies. Most of the patients came from confessional health centers (147 or 50 %). The wait times for obtaining an endoscopy appointment were 48 hours for 111 patients (37.8 %) and 72 hours for 70 patients 23.8 %.One hundred and eight patients or 36.7 % noted the absence of a sorting center in the health centers. In the endoscopy departments, 112 patients (38.1 %), were questioned about the risk factors for contamination to SARS-CoV-2. Among the risk factors found, 6 patients (2 %) traveled abroad in the 2 weeks preceding the examination, 4 patients 1.4 % had already been in contact with a subject at risk.The most frequent symptoms were abdominal pain (162 patients; 55.1 %) and nausea (48 patients; 16.3 %). The indications for the examinations were dominated by abdominal pain (156 patients; 53.1 %).Twenty-two patients (7.4 %) felt highly exposed to COVID-19 during the endoscopy examination.

Conclusions The risk associated with infection in SARS-CoV-2 does not seem to have been sufficiently taken into account in endoscopy centers in the afore mentioned 3 countries.

Citation Guingane NA, Houndonougbo ESY, Soli JA et al. eP487 PATIENT EXPERIENCE AT ENDOSCOPY CENTERS IN THREE WEST AFRICAN COUNTRIES DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC. Endoscopy 2021; 53: S258.

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Artikel online veröffentlicht:
19. März 2021