Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on decision of patients undergoing refractive surgery in a private institution in Bogotá, Colombia

Abstract

<p>Introduction: In 2020, during the covid-19 pandemic in refractive surgery centers, procedures decreased but resurfaced by October of that same year; 4% more were performed compared to 2019. There is limited information on the impact of the pandemic on the performance of surgeries and the reason behind the increase. Purpose: To identify the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on refractive surgery by delineating the primary motivations for performing the procedure. Methods: Observational cross-sectional descriptive study by answering a questionnaire on sociodemographic aspects and surgical motivation. Results: 203 participants were surveyed, between 31 and 40 years (47,8 %, n = 97) and 18 and 30 years (39,9 %, n = 81), and older than 40 years (12,3 %, n = 25). The 61,1 % (n = 124) were women, and only 3 (1,5 %) resided outside Colombia. People from stratum 4 (45,5 %) and 5 (24,3 %) participated more frequently, their primary motivations being: the best time for surgery, the desire not to use optical correction secondary to increased use of screen time, and finally, the use of a face mask. Conclusions: It was shown that using eye mask fogging glasses during the pandemic was not one of the most important motivations, as was teleworking, which was related to flexible working hours. The telework transformation facilitated the possibility of refractive surgery as one of the possible reasons for the increase in procedures performed during 2020.</p>