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

• Published in: Perioperative medicine (London) Vol. 11; no. 1; p. 10
• Main Authors: Loh, Pui San, Chaw, Sook Hui, Foong, Yi Xian, Ramasamy, Dhurgka, Zaki, Rafdzah Ahmad, Kuppusamy, Shanggar, Ong, Teng Aik, See, Mee Hoong, Khor, Hui Min
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 17.03.2022; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Aged patients; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Depression; Depression, Mental; Development and progression; Elderly; Elective surgical procedures; Hospital patients; Medical research; Medicine, Experimental; Psychological distress, Anxiety; Risk factors; Stress (Psychology); COVID-19; Depression; Elective surgical procedures; Elderly; Psychological distress, Anxiety
• DOI: 10.1186/s13741-022-00242-7
• ISSN: 2047-0525

Many 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. This 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. A 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). The 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.