Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Tertiary Care University Dermatology Outpatient Clinic and Dermatology Procedures
December 2022
in “
Siriraj Medical Journal
”
TLDR The COVID-19 pandemic led to fewer patient visits, more visits by older adults, an increase in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma cases, and a rise in noncosmetic procedures at a dermatology clinic.
The study aimed to understand the changes in patient characteristics, disease prevalence, and dermatology procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic. The researchers retrospectively reviewed data from patients who visited an outpatient dermatology clinic between March 1, 2018, and December 31, 2021. The results showed a decrease in the number of patients at the start of each of the 4 COVID-19 waves that occurred during the study period. Older adults increased their dermatology visits during the pandemic. The skin disease with the highest proportional increase in the frequency of visits was cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Noncosmetic procedures significantly increased, while cosmetic procedures decreased. The COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected outpatient dermatology by changing the setting and frequency of patient visits to the outpatient clinic, the pattern of the diseases, and the dermatology procedures.
