2Deparment of Medical Oncology, Alaattin Keykubat University Hospital, Antalya-Türkiye
3Deparment of Education, Eskişehir City Hospital, Eskişehir-Türkiye DOI : 10.5505/tjo.2022.3693 OBJECTIVE
COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease-19) was the name given to a novel pneumonia outbreak that occurred in Wuhan (Hubei province, China) in December 2019. For patients undergoing or scheduled for radiation therapy, radiation oncology (RO) departments were required to adjust their management protocols to maintain their ability to provide optimal care. The present survey study assesses the change in the daily practices of Turkish radiation oncologists.
METHODS
An online questionnaire was developed in Google Forms and sent out to oncologists registered with the
Turkish society for RO. A total of 98 radiation oncologists completed the online questionnaire after three
reminders were sent to the recipients over the course of 1 week.
RESULTS
After the pandemic has started, 65% of radiation oncologists moved their wards and outpatient clinics to
different hospital units, resulting in an approximate 70% decline in the delivery of patient services in RO.
Since the beginning of the pandemic in Türkiye, 52% of radiation oncologists have not been assigned to
services related to COVID-19. Around half of the radiation oncologists surveyed stated that they were
shunned by the society due to fear of transmitting the COVID-19 infection.
CONCLUSION
Further studies are needed to steer the creation of new regulations related to radiation oncologists, to be
applied in the event of such emergencies as the COVID-19 pandemic.