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.