Current effect of COVID-19 global pandemic on the professional and life profiles of the Egyptian spine surgeons

Abstract

Introduction: During the recent decade, many outbreaks of infectious diseases have been reported at increasing scales and frequency. The novel COVID-19 is the most recent lethal virus and has been declared to be a pandemic disease on March 11th, 2020. It has spread from China to most of the countries around the world causing a great burden on individuals and communities. The socioeconomic and professional profiles have been affected seriously by this pandemic. The aim of this study was to assess the short-term effects of COVID-19 on the socioeconomic profile of spinal surgeons in Egypt. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional online survey study to address the effect of COVID-19 global pandemic on spine surgeons in Egypt, discussing the short-term socioeconomic effect of COVID-19 global pandemic on the professional and social profiles of the Egyptian spine surgeons. A SurveyMonkey® questionnaire was sent to 190 spine surgeons registered in the Egyptian spine association database. Results: Ninety male surgeons responded to our four-day survey. The responders included the following: 4 residents, 16 fellows, and 70 consultants working in different Egyptian hospitals. The partial country lockdown was associated with drop in monthly income and in number of both elective and emergency operations. Most surgeons either stopped surgery or limited the number of either elective or emergency surgeries as well as outpatient clinics. Most of them were not in the COVID-19 team or did not receive any training, working under immense physical and psychological stress of being exposed to transmission of infection. Discussion: COVID-19 global pandemic negatively affected spine surgeons in Egypt socioeconomically. The Health Authority and the community have to work jointly to help the health care professionals in overcoming this crisis.