Authors (including presenting author) :
Mo KC(1),Ng MW(1),Lee CY(1),Yuen CK(1),Poon KH(1),Tsang HC(1),To YL(1), Leung HY(2),Sun TF(3)
Affiliation :
(1)Physiotherapy department,North District Hospital,(2)Community Outreach Services Team,North District Hospital,(3)Hospital Chief Executive Office,North District Hospital
Introduction :
Facing coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) pandemic, many public hospital services were adjusted. Last year, surge in Community Physiotherapy(CPT) service was found as some in-patient care-giver education sessions were referred to CPT and some community rehabilitation services provided by non-government organizations(NGOs) were suspended. One year later, some policies on crowd control in hospitals were relaxed and NGOs service was partially resumed, is the surge in CPT service down? Instead, are we facing a change in service model since COVID-19 pandemic?
Objectives :
To evaluate the demand changes since COVID-19 pandemic on NDH CPT service.
Methodology :
The working statistics of NDH CPT within the same period(February to November) in 2021(easing of local epidemic), 2020(COVID-19 pandemics) and 2019(normal period), were compared retrospectively.
Result & Outcome :
[Data in (means ± standard deviation)] Total CPT visit increased by 30.1% during COVID-19 pandemics and maintained thereafter(Year-2021:1589; Year-2020:1645; Year-2019:1264). In Home group, one-way ANOVA shows that there are statistically significant difference in average monthly new cases count(p<0.001) and subsequence visits(p<0.001). Post-hoc analyses show that significant rises are found in new cases count and subsequent visits in 2020 (new case in Year-2020: 23.0±6.8, Year-2019: 12.5±3.3, p=0.001; subsequent visits in Year-2020: 33.8±13.1, Year-2019: 9.9±6.8, p<0.000) and 2021 (new case in Year-2021: 20.9±5.8, Year-2019: 12.5±3.3, p=0.006; subsequent visits in Year-2021: 25.7±8.2, Year-2019: 9.9±6.8,p=0.003) when compared to 2019. 75.6%(158/209) new cases were post hospital discharge patients. The major post-discharged patient groups were neurological(20.3%) and cancer cases(15.2%). Following up on fall prevention and home exercise accounted for 78.9% referral. 73.4%(116/158) of cases were able to stay in community for more than 28 days after discharge. In OAH group, one-way ANOVA shows that there are similar monthly new cases count(Year-2021: 16.5±4.7, Year-2020: 17.4±5.8, Year-2019: 17.8±4.3,p=0.837) and subsequent visits(Year-2021: 95.8±10.8, Year-2020: 90.3±15.0, Year-2019: 86.2±17.2 ,p=0.492). 58.4%(97/166) were referred for chest conditions in bedridden elder(mean age 84.8). 57.7%(56/97) were able to stay in community for more than 28 days since CPT started. To conclude, demands on CPT service in NDH were raised since COVID-19 pandemic and maintained thereafter.
