The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Dermatology Outpatient Clinic of Aydin Adnan Menderes University Hospital

Background and Design: The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected the entire healthcare system in many ways. In our study, we aimed to determine how the dermatology outpatient profile was affected by the pandemic and the level of pandemic awareness.Materials and Methods: Data of patients seen at our outpatient clinic within the first 60 days prior to declaration of the pandemic in Turkey and 60 days afterward were extracted through the digital hospital database. A questionnaire with 24 questions, 8 specifically about the pandemic, were completed by 123 patients (9.3%) out of the 1,314 patients who applied to our outpatient clinic during the pandemic.Results: A total of 3,202 patients were evaluated. Of these, 1,888 (59%) were examined before and 1,314 (41%) during the pandemic. A 30.4% decrease in the number of patients was observed during the pandemic. There was also a significant increase in the male to female ratio. Psoriasis, bullous diseases, and melanoma diagnoses showed a statistically significant increase in frequency whereas acne, xerosis cutis, and nail diseases were less frequent. Female patients were more frequently affected psychologically by the pandemic (76.1% versus 53.8%) (p=0.017). Duration of dermatological complaints was shorter than 3 months in 44 (35.8%) patients, between 3 to 6 months in 12 (9.8%) and longer than 6 months in 67 (54.5%) patients. Ninety-one (74%) of the patients felt that their reason for seeking an appoinment at the dermatology outpatient clinic was "urgent". There was no statistically significant relationship between the patients' opinion of whether their complaints consisted of an emergency and the duration of the skin disease (p=0.830).Conclusion: Our finding that the "emergency" concept of patients differs from that of medical professionals is striking. In this period of dramatic changes in the healthcare system, such as the pandemic, online technology may be beneficial for better healthcare service.