Covid-19's impact on radiotherapy in the Republic of Srpska
Background/Aim. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) significantly affects patients with any type of chronic disease, especially the ones with neoplasm. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the weekly number of external beam (EB) radiotherapy (RT) (EBRT) fra...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Serbia, University of Defence, Belgrade
2022-01-01
|
| Series: | Vojnosanitetski Pregled |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0042-8450/2022/0042-84502200024K.pdf |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849703447377477632 |
|---|---|
| author | Kolarević Goran Jaroš Dražan Pavičar Bojan Marošević Goran |
| author_facet | Kolarević Goran Jaroš Dražan Pavičar Bojan Marošević Goran |
| author_sort | Kolarević Goran |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background/Aim. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) significantly affects patients with any type of chronic disease, especially the ones with neoplasm. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the weekly number of external beam (EB) radiotherapy (RT) (EBRT) fractions and monthly brachytherapy (BT) applications without intentional hypofractionation. We also investigated how the pandemic affected the number of EBRT patients younger or older than 70 years. Methods. The Affidea Radiotherapy Center, Banja Luka (BL RT Center), provides RT to the population (1.15 million) of the Republic of Srpska (Bosnia and Herzegovina). We analyzed the period of 14 months before the onset and the same period during COVID-19. Results. The average weekly number of EBRT fractions from January 2019 to the end of February 2020 was 680.5 [standard deviation (SD) 67.4], and from March 2020 to the end of April 2021, it was 617.1 (SD 96.4). During April 2020, the weekly number of the EBRT de-creased by 67.9% compared to the same period in 2019, while in March 2021, it fell by 42.4%. Paired samples t-test showed that the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic had a statistically significant effect [t(60) = 4.627, p < 0.05] on the reduction in the number of weekly EBRT fractions in the BL RT Center. When comparing number of EBRT patients over 70 years old to those fewer than 70 years old, the decrease was 16.3% vs. 1.6%, respectively. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic had a statistically significant effect (Z = -2.42, p = 0.016) on reducing the number of monthly BT applications. Conclusion. A statistically significant decline in EBRT and BT was observed in BL RT Center for the first fourteen months of the pandemic. The "waves" of the pandemic "closed" the medical wards needed for the diagnosis and therapy of oncology patients and converted them into COVID-19 wards. Therefore, some oncology patients who would have had an indication for RT never received |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-10dbc1c9d856474e8da23a99e5109b51 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 0042-8450 2406-0720 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Serbia, University of Defence, Belgrade |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Vojnosanitetski Pregled |
| spelling | doaj-art-10dbc1c9d856474e8da23a99e5109b512025-08-20T03:17:15ZengMinistry of Defence of the Republic of Serbia, University of Defence, BelgradeVojnosanitetski Pregled0042-84502406-07202022-01-0179765065710.2298/VSP211018024K0042-84502200024KCovid-19's impact on radiotherapy in the Republic of SrpskaKolarević Goran0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2610-5911Jaroš Dražan1Pavičar Bojan2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1234-5797Marošević Goran3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3858-123XInternational Medical Centers Affidea, Center for Radiation Therapy, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina + University of Banja Luka, Faculty of Medicine, Banja Luka, Bosnia and HerzegovinaInternational Medical Centers Affidea, Center for Radiation Therapy, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina + University of Banja Luka, Faculty of Medicine, Banja Luka, Bosnia and HerzegovinaInternational Medical Centers Affidea, Center for Radiation Therapy, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina + University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Physics, Novi Sad, SerbiaInternational Medical Centers Affidea, Center for Radiation Therapy, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina + University of Banja Luka, Faculty of Medicine, Banja Luka, Bosnia and HerzegovinaBackground/Aim. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) significantly affects patients with any type of chronic disease, especially the ones with neoplasm. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the weekly number of external beam (EB) radiotherapy (RT) (EBRT) fractions and monthly brachytherapy (BT) applications without intentional hypofractionation. We also investigated how the pandemic affected the number of EBRT patients younger or older than 70 years. Methods. The Affidea Radiotherapy Center, Banja Luka (BL RT Center), provides RT to the population (1.15 million) of the Republic of Srpska (Bosnia and Herzegovina). We analyzed the period of 14 months before the onset and the same period during COVID-19. Results. The average weekly number of EBRT fractions from January 2019 to the end of February 2020 was 680.5 [standard deviation (SD) 67.4], and from March 2020 to the end of April 2021, it was 617.1 (SD 96.4). During April 2020, the weekly number of the EBRT de-creased by 67.9% compared to the same period in 2019, while in March 2021, it fell by 42.4%. Paired samples t-test showed that the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic had a statistically significant effect [t(60) = 4.627, p < 0.05] on the reduction in the number of weekly EBRT fractions in the BL RT Center. When comparing number of EBRT patients over 70 years old to those fewer than 70 years old, the decrease was 16.3% vs. 1.6%, respectively. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic had a statistically significant effect (Z = -2.42, p = 0.016) on reducing the number of monthly BT applications. Conclusion. A statistically significant decline in EBRT and BT was observed in BL RT Center for the first fourteen months of the pandemic. The "waves" of the pandemic "closed" the medical wards needed for the diagnosis and therapy of oncology patients and converted them into COVID-19 wards. Therefore, some oncology patients who would have had an indication for RT never receivedhttp://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0042-8450/2022/0042-84502200024K.pdfage factorsbrachytherapycovid-19epidemiologyradiotherapyradiotherapy dosage |
| spellingShingle | Kolarević Goran Jaroš Dražan Pavičar Bojan Marošević Goran Covid-19's impact on radiotherapy in the Republic of Srpska Vojnosanitetski Pregled age factors brachytherapy covid-19 epidemiology radiotherapy radiotherapy dosage |
| title | Covid-19's impact on radiotherapy in the Republic of Srpska |
| title_full | Covid-19's impact on radiotherapy in the Republic of Srpska |
| title_fullStr | Covid-19's impact on radiotherapy in the Republic of Srpska |
| title_full_unstemmed | Covid-19's impact on radiotherapy in the Republic of Srpska |
| title_short | Covid-19's impact on radiotherapy in the Republic of Srpska |
| title_sort | covid 19 s impact on radiotherapy in the republic of srpska |
| topic | age factors brachytherapy covid-19 epidemiology radiotherapy radiotherapy dosage |
| url | http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0042-8450/2022/0042-84502200024K.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kolarevicgoran covid19simpactonradiotherapyintherepublicofsrpska AT jarosdrazan covid19simpactonradiotherapyintherepublicofsrpska AT pavicarbojan covid19simpactonradiotherapyintherepublicofsrpska AT marosevicgoran covid19simpactonradiotherapyintherepublicofsrpska |