The Effect of the COVID 19 Pandemic on Elective Surgical Services in Jos, North Central, Nigeria

Background. The COVID 19 pandemic affected healthcare delivery systems worldwide. There was a redistribution of health care resources in order to deal with the effects of the pandemic, with a corresponding consequence on other clinical services rendered. The extent of this effect on other non COVID 19 related services has been reported in other centres worldwide. In our own setting, health care resources are limited with suboptimal access even in normal situations. Objective. We sought to evaluate the effects of the COVID 19 pandemic on elective surgical services in our hospital. Methods. This was a cross sectional comparative study carried out at the Jos University Teaching hospital, (North central, Nigeria) of the elective surgical services rendered during the first wave of the COVID 19 pandemic lockdown covering the period April to June 2020 with a corresponding period of the preceding year 2019. Data was obtained from the hospital records department, theatres and service areas for clinic attendance, elective surgeries and ward occupancy. The paired sample t-test was used to compare the assessed variables across the three months of both years with a level of significance of P < 0.05. Results. There was mean clinic attendance of 2859.33 ± 223.36 covering the three months in 2019 as against a mean attendance of 648.67 ± 578.24 covering a similar period in 2020, P = 0.037. The elective surgical procedures carried out across the surgical specialties over the period in 2019 gave a mean of 352.33 ± 44.60 as opposed to 64.001 ± 7.32 over the corresponding period in 2020, P = 0.018. Ward occupancy over April to June 2019 was a mean 297.33 ± 18.58 across the various surgical wards and 158.33 ± 25.70 in the same period in 2020, P = 0.007. Conclusion. There was a significant reduction in the elective surgical services rendered in the hospital during the first wave of the COVID 19 pandemic compared to a corresponding period in the preceding year. This decline in elective surgical services would have negatively affected the access to health care. Thus measures to clear the backlog of elective surgical procedures would be required.