Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To determine patients’ willingness to undergo elective orthopaedic surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHOD: 4 groups of patients were chosen based on type of surgery. A telephone survey was conducted, including questions on diagnosis, symptom duration, pain severity, co-morbidities, anxiety levels for COVID-19 and surgery. Patients were given the conditions for surgery and asked whether they would undergo surgery, have the operation carried out by another consultant and any factors that would increase their confidence. RESULTS: Of 200 patients, 156 participated (78%). 78.2% were willing to undergo surgery. There was a statistically significant difference in willingness between age groups 40-49 (100%) and 80 + (58.3%). Differences in willingness between surgery types, BOA risk class, sex, symptom duration and pain scores, were not statistically significant. Patients unwilling to undergo surgery reported statistically higher anxiety scores for health (4.39) and surgery (4.62) compared to the willing group (2.89 and 2.71 respectively). Patients’ main concern was contracting COVID (35.2%). CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated that the majority of patients were willing to undergo surgery. This can be used to inform strategies for resuming elective surgeries. It has also highlighted several areas in patient perception that warrant further investigation and the importance of enhanced consent on the specific risks.