Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39829160›Full record

ReviewBJU international2025

The COVID-19 pandemic and Urology - reflecting on successful initiatives and lessons in Australia.

Jennifer Xu, Matthew Alberto, Dixon Woon, Damien Bolton, Joseph Ischia

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in BJU international, 2025. 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
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

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.

  1. Review
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Jennifer XuDepartment of Urology, Austin Health, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8452-0713
Matthew AlbertoDepartment of Urology, Austin Health, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3722-7754
Dixon WoonDepartment of Urology, Austin Health, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia.
Damien BoltonDepartment of Urology, Austin Health, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia.
Joseph IschiaDepartment of Urology, Austin Health, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesTo summarise the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on urological practice globally with a focus on Australian initiatives, as the pandemic resulted in radical changes in healthcare infrastructure and policies.

methodsWe conducted a literature review of the Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE), Excerpta Medica dataBASE (EMBASE) and Web of Science medical databases. The key terms used to conduct our search algorithm comprised of 'COVID', 'wait list or wait time or delay', 'urology', 'surgery' and 'outcomes', and generated 231 articles. Abstracts were reviewed for relevance and 40 studies selected for full-text review. Society position statements and government level press release statements were identified through citation tracking and additionally included. RESULTS/DISCUSSION: The halt on elective surgical services during the pandemic was deemed necessary to curb infection rates and conserve healthcare resources. However, it resulted in extended wait times and large surgical backlogs with major downstream effects. Australia fared favourably with regards to infection rates compared to international populations consequent upon strict border control, vaccine mandates, and stringent lockdowns. However, similar trends were noted in both oncological and non-oncological urology service reduction, resulting in significant concerns regarding the long-term sequelae of delayed surgery and missed appointments upon patient clinical outcome. Initiatives including collaborative partnerships between public and private hospital sectors, government-funded programmes and adoption of telehealth were successfully established as part of Australia's efforts to stabilise our healthcare system in response to the pandemic.

conclusionAustralia's pandemic efforts have highlighted the escalating imbalance between increasing demand from a growing and ageing population on an already over-burdened system with finite resources. The additional strain of managing post-COVID-19 pandemic fallout in this context provides further challenges for clinicians and healthcare administrators alike. Collaboration by all stakeholders must continue in order to seek innovative solutions to maximise efficiency of healthcare service utilisation, so that quality universal healthcare provision may continue in the future.

Indexed as

COVID-19PandemicsUrologic DiseasesUrologic Surgical ProceduresUrologyAustraliaElective Surgical ProceduresHumansSARS-CoV-2Waiting ListsAustraliacollaborationCOVID‐19initiativesinnovationpandemicresponseurology

Identifiers

PMID39829160
PMCPMC12036952

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

None linked

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.