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Strahlentherapie und Onkologie
Published in: Strahlentherapie und Onkologie 4/2022

Open Access 01-04-2022 | Brachytherapy | Original Article

Shift of radiotherapy use during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic? An analysis of German inpatient data

Authors: Daniel Medenwald, Thomas Brunner, Hans Christiansen, Ulrich Kisser, Sina Mansoorian, Dirk Vordermark, Hans-Ulrich Prokosch, Susanne A. Seuchter, Lorenz A. Kapsner, our MII research group

Published in: Strahlentherapie und Onkologie | Issue 4/2022

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Abstract

Objective

To assess the change in inpatient radiotherapy related to COVID-19 lockdown measures during the first wave of the pandemic in 2020.

Methods

We included cases hospitalized between January 1 and August 31, 2018–2020, with a primary ICD-10 diagnosis of C00–C13, C32 (head and neck cancer, HNC) and C53 (cervical cancer, CC). Data collection was conducted within the Medical Informatics Initiative. Outcomes were fractions and admissions. Controlling for decreasing hospital admissions during holidays, calendar weeks of 2018/2019 were aligned to Easter 2020. A lockdown period (LP; 16/03/2020–02/08/2020) and a return-to-normal period (RNP; 04/05/2020–02/08/2020) were defined. The study sample comprised a control (admission 2018/19) and study cohort (admission 2020). We computed weekly incidence and IR ratios from generalized linear mixed models.

Results

We included 9365 (CC: 2040, HNC: 7325) inpatient hospital admissions from 14 German university hospitals. For CC, fractions decreased by 19.97% in 2020 compared to 2018/19 in the LP. In the RNP the reduction was 28.57% (p < 0.001 for both periods). LP fractions for HNC increased by 10.38% (RNP: 9.27%; p < 0.001 for both periods). Admissions for CC decreased in both periods (LP: 10.2%, RNP: 22.14%), whereas for HNC, admissions increased (LP: 2.25%, RNP: 1.96%) in 2020. Within LP, for CC, radiotherapy admissions without brachytherapy were reduced by 23.92%, whereas surgery-related admissions increased by 20.48%. For HNC, admissions with radiotherapy increased by 13.84%, while surgery-related admissions decreased by 11.28% in the same period.

Conclusion

Related to the COVID-19 lockdown in an inpatient setting, radiotherapy for HNC treatment became a more frequently applied modality, while admissions of CC cases decreased.
Appendix
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Metadata
Title
Shift of radiotherapy use during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic? An analysis of German inpatient data
Authors
Daniel Medenwald
Thomas Brunner
Hans Christiansen
Ulrich Kisser
Sina Mansoorian
Dirk Vordermark
Hans-Ulrich Prokosch
Susanne A. Seuchter
Lorenz A. Kapsner
our MII research group
Publication date
01-04-2022
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in
Strahlentherapie und Onkologie / Issue 4/2022
Print ISSN: 0179-7158
Electronic ISSN: 1439-099X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00066-021-01883-1

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