The COVID-19 pandemic has affected more than ten million people worldwide with nearly four lakh deaths. Cancer patients requiring continuum of care are facing difficulty accessing healthcare. Due to the risk of infection with COVID-19, their treatments have been rescheduled, elective procedures postponed, intravenous chemotherapies transitioned to oral medications, where possible, maintenance therapies deferred, and supportive care administered at home. Hence, we conducted a survey from the hospital patient registry to provide critical, up-to-date information about the impact of COVID-19 on cancer patients.
Patients taking treatment in the Department of Medical Oncology and Haematology at the American Oncology Institute, Hyderabad were given an online questionnaire upon consent. Details included age, cancer type, disease stage, treatment phase, delay in hospital appointment, procuring essential drugs including pain medicine, investigations, average time delay, impact on mental health, interpersonal relationships, deferring treatment due to fear of infection amongst other questions. Survey is also available in the local language besides English.
A total of 200 patients participated in the survey with majority in the age group of 26-75 years (95.5%), 60% being female and the commonest cancers being breast (22%) and lung (16.5%) respectively. Patients receiving chemotherapy and immunotherapy were 58% and 3.9% with most being stage 3 (29%) and 4 (48.5%). Treatment delays were faced by 32% for various reasons while mental health impact in 67% patients. Majority of the patients expressed being at higher risk from COVID-19, with 35.8% agreeing upon continuation of chemotherapy and 66% preferring transition from injectable to oral medication. Forty five percent were aware of COVID-19 prophylaxis, while 85% discussed continuation or deferring treatment with their respective care giver.
This survey was a cooperative effort across many physicians, nurses and patients to provide critical, up-to-date information about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer patients. Completing this short 10-minute survey or questionnaire will help health care to identify COVID-19 related issues in the community.
The authors.
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All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.