Research article: Influence of COVID-19 Pandemic on Breast Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment in Low Resource Setting: A Case Study of a Nigerian Tertiary Healthcare Facility
Adesokan Joseph Oluwatobi, Sanni Olaniyi Felix, Abiodun Olaiya Paul, Odunlade Adekola John
Abstract
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic had a wide range of effects on healthcare services, from disrupting normal patient flow to healthcare facilities to stressing and overwhelming healthcare resources. This study aims to evaluate the influence of COVID-19 on breast cancer diagnosis in a tertiary healthcare facility in Nigeria.
Methodology: The study was a descriptive cross-sectional survey using data extraction. The study population comprised medical professionals at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), including doctors, laboratory technicians, and scientists in the pathology, oncology, and general medicine departments. Data were analysed using IBM-SPSS for Windows version 28.0.
Results: The study comprised 36 participants. They were predominantly males (63.9%), aged 20-30 (47.2%), attained tertiary education (100%), Christians (88.9%), married (66.7%), medical laboratory scientists (33.3%), and had 1-5 years of experience (58.3%). Although 88.9% of the participants said they were at risk of contracting COVID-19 due to exposure to patients at work, 11% of them said they did not. Even though 27.8% of the participants said they are not experiencing a lack of proper supply diagnostics materials/supplies due to the pandemic, 72.2% said they are experiencing it. Some respondents gave 60% positive feedback on the satisfactory level of patients during the pandemic, while others rated the feedback they got as poor. Most participants agreed that the pandemic has resulted in several practical challenges for the facility, including a lack of funding, poor patient turnout, longer waiting times for results, and inadequate personal protective equipment (PPE).
Conclusion: This study showed that healthcare providers and patients were hampered by a lack of PPE, apprehension about contracting an infection, high costs, and incompetence during the pandemic.
Keywords: COVID-19, LASUTH, Personal-Protective-Equipment (PPE), Diagnosis
Int. J. Bio. Lab. Sci 2024(13)1:32-40 【PDF】
