Patient perspective
In order to better understand the beliefs and attitudes of patients with
aortic pathology during COVID-19, we conducted a survey through Aortic
Dissection Awareness UK and Ireland (ADA UKI).
A structured questionnaire was developed and pre-operative patients who
are members of ADA UKI were invited complete it from
17th August and 25th August 2020. A
total of 29 responses were received and the results are presented in
Table 2.
Among the 29 patients, only one of them considered himself as “awaiting
surgery” while the rest 28 patients considered themselves as “under
surveillance” although they have been offered the option of surgical
intervention at time of first assessment and rather awaiting a confirmed
date for surgery which has been significantly affected by COVID-19
pandemic.
More than 80% of them were more concerned about the delayed aortic
surgery than the possibility of contracting COVID-19 in-hospital; over
70% of them had no concerns in attending hospital and trusted their
respective unit to have strict measures in place to prevent
cross-infection. They would have preferred to have surgery without delay
despite the potential risk of COVID-19 (72%). Furthermore, most would
have preferred a face-to-face follow-up (59%) while a clear majority
did not feel that that a routine follow-up scan should be delayed
pending vaccine development (90%).
Our survey shows that, despite the potential risk of COVID-19, patients
are more worried about their health from the underlying aortic pathology
than the possibility of contracting COVID-19. As this was a simple
cross-sectional survey on a small sample, results should be interpreted
carefully; larger qualitative studies are needed to understand the
impact of COVID-19 pandemic and its associated delays over patients who
are yet to have aorto-vascular surgery.