Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35296355›Full record

ArticlePerioperative medicine (London, England)2022

Psychological distress among elderly surgical patients who had their surgery postponed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pui San Loh, Sook Hui Chaw, Yi Xian Foong, Dhurgka Ramasamy, Rafdzah Ahmad Zaki, Shanggar Kuppusamy, Teng Aik Ong, Mee Hoong See, Hui Min Khor

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Perioperative medicine (London, England), 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
0.2field-weighted citation impact, top 48% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 2 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Pui San LohDepartment of Anaesthesiology, Universiti Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. lohps@ummc.edu.my.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3819-1602
Sook Hui ChawDepartment of Anaesthesiology, Universiti Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Yi Xian FoongDepartment of Anaesthesiology, Universiti Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Dhurgka RamasamyDepartment of Anaesthesiology, Universiti Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Rafdzah Ahmad ZakiDepartment of Social and Preventive Medicine, Universiti Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Shanggar KuppusamyDepartment of Surgery, Universiti Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Teng Aik OngDepartment of Surgery, Universiti Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Mee Hoong SeeDepartment of Surgery, Universiti Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Hui Min KhorDepartment of Medicine, Universiti Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
University of Malaya · MYUniversity Malaya Medical Centre · MY

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMany institutions withheld elective lists and triaged surgeries during the peak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. As a result, older surgical patients have had to wait for rescheduled dates in a long waitlist. This study aimed to identify the psychological impact in these patients when they returned for surgery.

methodsThis was a cross-sectional study which included 153 patients aged ≥ 65 years undergoing elective surgery. Trained interviewers recruited and assessed psychological status pre-operatively with two validated questionnaires - Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). Specific questions were asked about their postponed surgeries, appetite and fear.

resultsA total of 36 out of 153 (23.5%) patients had their procedures deferred during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic. Postponed cases were significantly based on the nature of surgery (p = 0.002), cancer diagnosis (p = 0.006) and surgical specialty (p = 0.023). Median HADS scores were higher for patients who were postponed (2.00 versus 4.00 for anxiety, p = 0.180 and 0.00 versus 1.00 for depression, p = 0.424) although no statistical significance was shown. In the whole study population, anxiety was a significant predictor for depression and vice versa (p < 0.001) with other predictive risk factors for anxiety that were age ≥ 85 years old (odds ratio [OR] 6.14, p = 0.018), female (OR 2.41, p = 0.024), cancer (OR 2.19, p = 0.039) and major surgery (OR 2.39, p = 0.023). Similarly, older patients ≥ 85 years old (OR 10.44, p = 0.003) and female (OR 6.07, p = 0.006) had higher risk for depression. Both anxiety and depression were significant risks for loss of appetite (p = 0.005 and 0.001). Lastly, the fear of disease progression due to rescheduling was more frequent in cancer patients (p = 0.035).

conclusionThe mental health and disease burden of older surgical patients should be taken into careful consideration when cases need to be postponed in our healthcare system.

Indexed as

COVID-19DepressionElderlyElective surgical proceduresPsychological distress, Anxiety

Identifiers

PMID35296355
PMCPMC8926453
OpenAlexW4221035618

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.