Sindhu B.S.1, Sujatha S.2, Soumya Alex3, Gadha Lakshmi Rajendran4
BACKGROUND
Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, was converted to a Covid
hospital but there was no shutdown or restriction of functioning of routine non-
Covid treatment services. Objectives were to study the clinical profile of patients
visiting ENT outpatient department during national lockdown period, evaluate the
usage of safety practices by patients to protect from Covid-19 infection and
determine the proportion of patients using teleconsultation services.
METHODS
This is a descriptive study. All patients, who attended and / or given dates to visit
the ENT outpatient department during study period were included in the study.
Data collected was analysed using SPSS software version 25.
RESULTS
Among patients who visited the outpatient department, 54.3 % were males.
Majority belonged to age group of above 40 years. 82 % of old patients on followup
could not attend outpatient because of lack of transportation. Majority of new
cases were road traffic accidents and acute infections of ear and nose. Although
majority had access to treatment from hospitals in their locality, they did not utilise
the option. 98 % were aware of COVID-19 infection and were practicing safety
precautions. Only 13 patients out of 219 were using the facility of teleconsultation.
CONCLUSIONS
This study reveals a wide gap in the present method of implementation of referrals
to tertiary care. E medicine and teleconsultation services should be encouraged
and used effectively. High rate of adoption of the safety measures among the
public was another highlight obtained from this study.
