AI Article Synopsis

  • COVID-19 significantly impacted healthcare in 2020, causing over 4.9 million global cases and leading to postponements of elective medical procedures, especially affecting chronic illnesses like inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
  • A sharp decline in testing for biologic therapies, such as adalimumab and infliximab, was noted, with a 75.6% and 36.2% drop respectively, due to the pandemic's restrictions on outpatient care.
  • To prevent adverse outcomes for IBD patients, urgent changes in clinical practices are necessary, with a call for further reforms to maintain effective patient-centered care moving forward.

Article Abstract

COVID-19 has dominated life in 2020 with, at the time of writing, over 4.9M global cases and >320 000 deaths. The impact has been most intensely felt in acute and critical care environments. However, with most UK elective work postponed, laboratory testing of faecal calprotectin halted due to potential risk of viral transmission and non-emergency endoscopies and surgeries cancelled, the secondary impact on chronic illnesses such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is becoming apparent. Data from the Scottish Biologic Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM) service shows a dramatic drop in TDM testing since the pandemic onset. April 2020 saw a 75.6% reduction in adalimumab testing and a 36.2% reduction in infliximab testing when compared with February 2020 data, a reduction coinciding with the widespread cancellation of outpatient and elective activity. It is feared that disruption to normal patterns of care and disease monitoring of biologic patients could increase the risk of disease flare and adverse clinical outcomes. Urgent changes in clinical practice have been instigated to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on routine clinical care. Further transformations are needed to maintain safe, effective, patient-centred IBD care in the future.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8231430PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/flgastro-2020-101563DOI Listing

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