The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Polish orthopedics, in particular on the level of stress among orthopedic surgeons and the education process

Abstract

The Coronovirus Disease 2019 –(COVID-19) pandemic had a significant impact on the health care system and medical staff around the world. The orthopedic units were also subject to new restrictions and regulations. Therefore, the aim of our research was to assess how the COVID-19 pandemic affected orthopedic wards in the last year in Poland. We created an online survey, which was sent to 273 members of the Polish Society of Orthopedics and Traumatology. The survey contained 51 questions and was divided into main sections: Preparedness, Training, Stress, Reduction, Awareness. A total of 80 responses to the survey were obtained. In Preparedness section the vast majority of respondents (90%) replied, that they used personal protective equipment during the pandemic, however only 50% of the respondents indicated that their facility received a sufficient amount of personal protective equipment. Most of the respondents indicated that the pandemic negatively affected the quality of training of future orthopedists (69.4%) and that pandemic has had a negative impact on their operating skills (66,7%). In Reduction section most of the doctors indicated that the number of patients hospitalized in their departments decreased by 20–60% (61,2% respondents), while the number of operations performed decreased by 60–100% (60% respondents). The negative impact of pandemic on education was noticeable especially in the group of young orthopedic surgeons: 0–5 years of work experience (p = 0,029). Among the respondents, the level of stress increased over the last year from 4.8 to 6.9 (p <0.001). The greatest increase in the level of stress was observed among orthopedists working in country hospitals (p = 0,03). In section Awareness 36,3% of respondents feel well or very well informed about the latest Covid-19 regulations. In addition, most doctors (82.6%) believe that the Polish health care system was not well prepared to fight the pandemic and that the regulations applied so far are not sufficient to effectively fight the pandemic (66.2%). The COVID-19 pandemic has impact on orthopedics departments in Poland and negatively affected the quality of training of orthopedic surgeons and the level of stress.

Opportunities arising from the COVID-19: an international orthopaedic surgeons’ perspective

“…There is no doubt that the pandemic resulted in an unprecedented challenge to the health care services including putting significant pressure on staff of all specialties [1]. However, the vast majority of publications on orthopaedic surgeons has focussed on the intuitive negative aspects [5][6][7][8][9][10][11]; nevertheless, any experience may also have a positive impact. The aim of this study was to collate the positive experiences reported by orthopaedic surgeons to identify important lessons for our future practice.…”

“…The negative effects on the mental health of health care staff working during the pandemic are well documented [29]. In addition, prior to the pandemic, globally high levels of burnout amongst orthopaedic surgeons had been identified [30][31][32], and recent studies are showing that this increased in the pandemic [6]. However, a recent Dutch study focussing on physician's positive work experience during the pandemic showed that physicians perceived employability was significantly higher during than prior to the pandemic, the workload was less and this together with the high appreciation by society are likely to contribute to the increased sense of well-being [20].…”

“…Although the negative effects of the pandemic have been previously reported in several publications pertaining to orthopaedic surgeons [5][6][7][8][9], the aforementioned positive changes brought to our orthopaedic practice by the pandemic have not been precisely recorded. Therefore, the rationale for this study is to conduct a global survey to record those positive experiences during the pandemic specifically for orthopaedic surgery, and thus capture the new ideas, perceptions and lessons learned which in turn can be used to promote future innovation and improvement in our everyday practice of orthopaedics.…”

“…Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been unpreceded strain on health care systems [1], which abruptly forced them to differently manage patients in the face of this potentially overwhelming demand [2,3]. There have been several negative aspects of the pandemic affecting orthopaedic surgery, including shutdown of planned operating with raised thresholds for the operative management of injuries and the re-deployment of staff to support colleagues in overwhelmed specialties [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. This has resulted in massive waiting lists for elective surgery, reduced training opportunities and increased negative mental health effects in staff members [6,12,13].…”

Influence of COVID-19 on Tertiary Orthopaedic Centres

“…In times of COVID-19, where restrictions mandated staying at home, people avoided check-ups for minor issues and early diagnosis of osteoporosis was not possible, which could further increase its effect. As time increases, the chances of bone injury become high and full recovery is possible in most cases [ 32 , 33 ].…”