Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on ophthalmologic outpatient care: experience from an Italian Tertiary Medical Center

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the impact the COVID-19-related national lockdown has had on Ophthalmologic Outpatient Care in an Italian Tertiary Medical Centre. Methods: We reviewed all the performances that were carried out as outpatient services at our department between 1 January 2020 and 30 November 2020. We compared data among four different periods: from 1 January 2020 to 17 March 2020 (“Pre-Lockdown”); from 18 March 2020 to 17 May 2020 (Lockdown); from 18 May 2020 to 2 November 2020 (Post-Lockdown) and from 3 November 2020 to 30 November 2020 (Regional Lockdown). Results: The overall number of performed routine outpatient visits per day (ROVs) was 11,871 (Mean ± SD = 35.76 ± 17.81), whereas booked appointments (BAs) were 21272 (Mean ± SD = 63.86 ± 9.27), meaning a decline in the number of ROVs by 44.01%. (Mean ± SD = 28.10 ± 12.11, p