Impacto psicosocial de la pandemia por COVID-19 en cirujanos de columna argentinos

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the psycho-social impact of the COVID-19 outbreak in spine surgeons in Argentina.
Methods: A questionnaire was sent to Argentina spine surgeons from April 4-6th, 2020. Questions regarding demographics, economic, working status and the PHQ-9 score were included. All variables were compared, analyzed and statistically significant differences were recorded.
Results: 122 surgeons from Argentina answered the complete survey, most of them were male (97 %), the average age was 44 years; half (n: 61) of them were orthopedic surgeons and half neurosurgeons. Most of the surgeons reported performing emergency procedures only during the pandemic (84 %, n: 102). The average concern about the financial situation due to the pandemic was 7.8 in a scale of 1 to 10. Twenty percent (n: 24) of the surgeons had a score over 10 in the PHQ-9. Young age and neurosurgery as a specialty were statistically related with higher PHQ-9 scores.
Conclusions: COVID-19 impact´s in working practice and financial situation of Argentina´s spine surgeons that answered this survey was evaluated. The long-term psychological impact should be taken into consideration to avoid a heavier burden for health care providers.