Journal article
Survey of the Impact of COVID-19 on Oncologists' Decision Making in Cancer.
- Ürün Y Department of Medical Oncology, Ankara University School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
- Hussain SA Academic Unit of Oncology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom.
- Bakouny Z Department of Medical Oncology, Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
- Castellano D Medical Oncology Department, Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre, Madrid, Spain.
- Kılıçkap S Hacettepe University Cancer Institute, Ankara, Turkey.
- Morgan G Department of Medical and Radiation Oncology, Skåne University Hospital, Lund, Sweden.
- Mckay RR Moores Cancer Center, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA.
- Pels K Department of Medical Oncology, Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
- Schmidt A Department of Medical Oncology, Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
- Doroshow DB Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY.
- Schütz F Clinical Oncology Department, BP - A Beneficência Portuguesa de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
- Albiges L Department of Medical Oncology, Gustave Roussy Cancer Campus, Villejuif, France.
- Lopes G Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Miami, FL.
- Catto JWF Academic Unit of Oncology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom.
- Peters S Oncology Department, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Lausanne University, Lausanne, Switzerland.
- Choueiri TK Department of Medical Oncology, Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
- 2020-08-07
Published in:
- JCO global oncology. - 2020
Adult
Aged
Betacoronavirus
Clinical Decision-Making
Coronavirus Infections
Female
Humans
Infection Control
Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional
Infectious Disease Transmission, Professional-to-Patient
Male
Medical Oncology
Middle Aged
Neoplasms
Oncologists
Pandemics
Personal Protective Equipment
Pneumonia, Viral
Practice Patterns, Physicians'
Surveys and Questionnaires
Telemedicine
English
PURPOSE
To understand readiness measures taken by oncologists to protect patients and health care workers from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and how their clinical decision making was influenced by the pandemic.
METHODS
An online survey was conducted between March 24 and April 29, 2020.
RESULTS
A total of 343 oncologists from 28 countries participated. The median age was 43 years (range, 29-68 years), and the majority were male (62%). At the time of the survey, nearly all participants self-reported an outbreak in their country (99.7%). Personal protective equipment was available to all participants, of which surgical mask was the most common (n = 308; 90%). Telemedicine, in the form of phone or video encounters, was common and implemented by 80% (n = 273). Testing patients with cancer for COVID-19 via reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction before systemic treatment was not routinely implemented: 58% reported no routine testing, 39% performed testing in selected patients, and 3% performed systematic testing in all patients. The most significant factors influencing an oncologist's decision making regarding choice of systemic therapy included patient age and comorbidities (81% and 92%, respectively). Although hormonal treatments and tyrosine kinase inhibitors were considered to be relatively safe, cytotoxic chemotherapy and immune therapies were perceived as being less safe or unsafe by participants. The vast majority of participants stated that during the pandemic they would use less chemotherapy, immune checkpoint inhibitors, and steroids. Although treatment in neoadjuvant, adjuvant, and first-line metastatic disease was less affected, most of the participants stated that they would be more hesitant to recommend second- or third-line therapies in metastatic disease.
CONCLUSION
Decision making by oncologists has been significantly influenced by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
To understand readiness measures taken by oncologists to protect patients and health care workers from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and how their clinical decision making was influenced by the pandemic.
METHODS
An online survey was conducted between March 24 and April 29, 2020.
RESULTS
A total of 343 oncologists from 28 countries participated. The median age was 43 years (range, 29-68 years), and the majority were male (62%). At the time of the survey, nearly all participants self-reported an outbreak in their country (99.7%). Personal protective equipment was available to all participants, of which surgical mask was the most common (n = 308; 90%). Telemedicine, in the form of phone or video encounters, was common and implemented by 80% (n = 273). Testing patients with cancer for COVID-19 via reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction before systemic treatment was not routinely implemented: 58% reported no routine testing, 39% performed testing in selected patients, and 3% performed systematic testing in all patients. The most significant factors influencing an oncologist's decision making regarding choice of systemic therapy included patient age and comorbidities (81% and 92%, respectively). Although hormonal treatments and tyrosine kinase inhibitors were considered to be relatively safe, cytotoxic chemotherapy and immune therapies were perceived as being less safe or unsafe by participants. The vast majority of participants stated that during the pandemic they would use less chemotherapy, immune checkpoint inhibitors, and steroids. Although treatment in neoadjuvant, adjuvant, and first-line metastatic disease was less affected, most of the participants stated that they would be more hesitant to recommend second- or third-line therapies in metastatic disease.
CONCLUSION
Decision making by oncologists has been significantly influenced by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
- Language
-
- English
- Open access status
- hybrid
- Identifiers
-
- DOI 10.1200/GO.20.00300
- PMID 32755479
- Persistent URL
- https://folia.unifr.ch/global/documents/125566
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