Characteristics of Patients Who Received Chemotherapy During The Covid 19 Pandemic and Changes in Oncology Practice

INTRODUCTION: To determine the characteristics of patients who received chemotherapy in the pandemic center under Covid 19 pandemic conditions and to investigate the changes in oncology practice.
METHODS: The data of patients receiving chemotherapy in our center between 01.04.2020 and 20.05.2020 and who were not diagnosed with neutropenic fever or Covid 19 in at least two consecutive visits were retrospectively analyzed. Wilcoxon and Mc-Nemar tests were used for comparison of numerical and categorical variables, respectively. We reported two-sided p value and <0.05 were considered statistically significant
RESULTS: A total of 98 patients were included in the study. Median follow-up time was 20 days in the whole group (6-48). The median age of the patients was 59 (28-82), and there were 52 (53%) male patients and 46 (47%) female patients. While number of patients who received granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) at the first visit was 50 (51%), number of patients who received G-CSF at the second visit was 37 (38%) (p = 0.035). Cough (8% vs 1%, p = 0.039), sputum (8% vs 0%, p = 0.016) and fatigue (18% vs 8%, p = 0.004) were found to be more common in the second visit compared to the first visit.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: It was shown that patients could receive chemotherapy without any problems by examining for Covid 19 symptoms and with normal limits of laboratory. In addition, the rates of G-CSF use were found to be higher than the rates in the literature compared to the pre-pandemic.

Covid 19 Pandemi Döneminde Kemoterapi Alan Hastalarýn Özellikleri Ve Onkoloji Pratiðinde ki Deðiþiklikler

GÝRÝÞ ve AMAÇ: Covid 19 pandemi þartlarýnda, pandemi merkezinde sorunsuz bir þekilde kemoterapi alan hastalarýn özelliklerinin belirlenmesi ve onkoloji pratiðinde ki deðiþikliklerin araþtýrýlmasý amaçlanmýþtýr.
YÖNTEM ve GEREÇLER: 01.04.2020 ile 20.05.2020 tarihleri arasýnda merkezimizde aktif olarak kemoterapi alan ve birbirini takip eden en az iki vizitte nötropenik ateþ yada Covid 19 tanýsý almayan hastalarýn verileri retrospektif olarak incelenmiþtir. Numerik ve kategorik deðiþkenlerin kýyaslanmasý için sýrasýyla Wilcoxon testi ve Mc-Nemar analizi kullanýldý. Analizler sonucunda çift yönlü p deðeri raporlandý ve 0.05'in altýnda ki deðerler istatistiksel olarak anlamlý kabul edildi.
BULGULAR: Çalýþmaya toplam 98 hasta dahil edilmiþtir. Tüm grupta median takip süresi 20 gün idi (6-48). Hastalarýn ortanca yaþý 59 (28-82) olup, tüm grupta 52 (53%) erkek hasta ve 46 (%47) kadýn hasta yer almaktaydý. Birinci vizitte granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) verilen hasta sayýsý 50 (%51) iken, ikinci vizitte G-CSF verilen hasta sayýsý 37 (%38) idi (p=0.035). Ýkinci vizitte öksürük (%8 vs %1, p=0.039), balgam (%8 vs %0, p=0.016) ve halsizlik (%18 vs %8, p=0.004) þikayetlerinin birinci vizite kýyasla daha az olduðu saptanmýþtýr.
TARTIÞMA ve SONUÇ: Çalýþmamýzda hastalarýn Covid 19 semptomlarý açýsýndan sorgulanmasý ve laboratuar olarak normal limitler içerisinde kalýnarak kemoterapilerinin sorunsuz bir þekilde alabildikleri saptanmýþtýr. Ayrýca, G-CSF kullaným oranlarýnýn ise pandemi öncesine göre literatürde belirtilen oranlardan daha fazla olduðu saptanmýþtýr.