The aim of this study was to identify and assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the diagnosis and treatment of head and neck cancer (HNC) patients of the Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery of the 4th Military Teaching Hospital in Wroclaw for whom oncological treatment was planned by a cancer case board between March 2018 and February 2022. We analysed the medical records of 625 patients. In order to verify whether the relationships between the analysed features were statistically significant, the chi-square test of independence and the Student’st-test for independent samples were used (p< 0.05). Our analysis showed that the impact of the pandemic on the organization of health service delivery to HNC patients was not uniform. The largest difference in the number of formulated treatment plans was observed at the beginning of the pandemic (22.1% reduction compared with the year before the pandemic). During the pandemic, the proportion of patients admitted on the basis of a DILO (diagnosis and oncological treatment) card issued by a primary care physician, instead of a regular referral to hospital, issued also by a primary care physician, was significantly higher compared with the that during the pre-pandemic period. The majority of cancer patients with a oncological treatment planned during the pandemic lived in urban areas. During the pandemic, the number of patients with more-advanced-stage cancer, assessed on the basis of the type of planned treatment (radical vs. palliative), did not increase compared with that during the pre-pandemic period. However, our follow-up period was quite short. It is necessary to intensify activities aimed at promoting health and increasing health awareness in people living in rural areas and setting long-term priorities and objectives for health policies at the national, regional and local levels, with particular focus on this group of people.
本研究旨在识别并评估COVID-19大流行对弗罗茨瓦夫第四军医教学医院耳鼻咽喉头颈外科头颈癌（HNC）患者诊疗工作的影响，研究对象为2018年3月至2022年2月期间经肿瘤病例委员会制定治疗计划的病例。我们分析了625例患者的医疗记录。为验证分析特征间关系是否具有统计学意义，采用卡方独立性检验和独立样本t检验（p<0.05）。分析表明，大流行对头颈癌患者医疗服务组织的影响并不均衡。疫情初期制定的治疗计划数量差异最为显著（较疫情前一年减少22.1%）。疫情期间，通过初级保健医生开具的肿瘤诊疗卡（而非常规转诊单）入院的患者比例，较疫情前显著上升。疫情期间制定治疗计划的肿瘤患者多数居住在城市地区。基于计划治疗类型（根治性与姑息性）评估发现，疫情期间进展期癌症患者数量较疫情前未见增加，但本研究的随访周期较短。有必要加强针对农村居民的健康促进与健康意识提升工作，并在国家、区域和地方层面制定以该人群为重点的长期卫生政策优先事项与目标。
肿瘤(癌症)患者之家