Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
POPULATION MEDICINE, cilt.5, ss.427, 2023 (Scopus)
Background and Objective: Restrictions in the COVID-19 pandemic have affected
access to healthcare and caused delays in the routine care of people with chronic
diseases. The aim of our study is to reveal the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
on routine care of people with chronic diseases.
Methods: Our qualitative study was carried out with 12 people who came to the
Cardiology outpatient clinics of tertiary Training and Research Hospital in June
2022 for a routine care due to their chronic diseases. As a data collection tool,
a semi-structured questionnaire was used. The data were collected through
face-to-face interviews with the participants by taking the necessary protective
measures. Thematic analysis method was used in the analysis of the data. After
the interviews were transcribed, each transcript was coded using the ATLAS.ti
program. The ethics committee approval of the study was obtained.
Results: The ages of participants were between 34-73, and 8 of them were male.
Participant experiences were categorised into four themes: General Health Status,
Routine Care during the Pandemic, Chronic Disease Management during the
Pandemic and Patient Expectations of Healthcare. Most of the patients delayed
their routine care during the pandemic and their chronic diseases worsened.
Among the reasons for not going to the controls, the fear of contagion came to the
fore, while some participants mentioned that they could not find an appointment.
In terms of their expectations of healthcare, they stated that health institutions
should give priority to those with chronic diseases and home health services and
online services will provide convenience for them.
Conclusion: Delaying hospital admissions for routine care made the management
of chronic diseases difficult and worsened the chronic diseases of patients in the
long term. Implementation of online health services such as telemedicine can
facilitate chronic disease management.