Elsevier

Respiratory Investigation

Volume 60, Issue 5, September 2022, Pages 640-646
Respiratory Investigation

Original article
Impact of coronavirus disease 2019 on respiratory care in Japan: A nationwide survey by the Japanese Respiratory Society

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resinv.2022.04.011Get rights and content

Abstract

Background

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread worldwide since 2020, placing a huge burden on medical facilities. In the field of respiratory medicine, there has been a decrease in the number of patients. While many pulmonologists have been receiving patients with COVID-19, the actual effects on respiratory care have not been elucidated. Therefore, we conducted this study to clarify the effects of COVID-19 on medical care in the field of respiratory medicine.

Methods

We conducted a questionnaire survey among 749 hospitals belonging to the Board-Certified Member system of the Japanese Respiratory Society on the effects of COVID-19 from November 2021.

Results

Responses were obtained from 170 hospitals (23%), in approximately 70% of which the respiratory medicine department was the main department involved in managing COVID-19. The number of spirometry and bronchoscopy tests decreased by 25% and 15%, respectively, and the number of both outpatients and inpatients decreased in 93% of hospitals. Among respiratory diseases, the number of patients hospitalized for usual pneumonia, bronchial asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease decreased greatly by 30%–45%. In 62% of hospitals, the biggest effect of the COVID-19 pandemic was the greater burden in terms of the clinical workload due to COVID-19.

Conclusions

Although the number of tests and non-COVID-19 outpatients and inpatients decreased in respiratory medicine departments during the COVID-19 pandemic, the workload increased due to COVID-19, resulting in a great increase in the clinical burden.

Keywords

Coronavirus disease 2019
Spirometry
Bronchoscopy
Clinical burden

Abbreviations

COVID-19
coronavirus disease 2019
SARS-CoV-2
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2
COPD
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

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