Análise do impacto da pandemia no atendimento do ambulatório de neurologia do Centro de Especialidades Médicas do CESUPA

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on care at the CEMEC neurology outpatient clinic and characterize the clinical-epidemiological profile of the population served pre-pandemic and during the pandemic, identifying patients with a history of COVID-19. Methods: This is an observational, cross-sectional, descriptive study, with a quantitative approach to data obtained from the records of a neurology outpatient clinic. Results: The annual average number of visits during the period was 78.5 per year and in the second period, this average increased to 157, that is, the annual average number of visits doubled during the pandemic period. A change in the age range of the profile was observed before and after the pandemic, with a prevalence of elderly people in current care. The main syndromic diagnoses being headache and epileptic syndrome, and the etiological diagnoses being epilepsy and migraine, with a significant increase in Parkinson's disease in the post-pandemic period. There were 138 cases of loss to follow-up, where during the pandemic period 3.6% of them were directly related to the course of the pandemic. Conclusion: In this way, this study is configured as an important tool to update the perception and direction of the neurology outpatient clinic, through the clinical epidemiological profile elucidated after the pandemic impact in this work, which allows sizing the new needs of this health service, as well as contributing as theoretical material for other health centers and a stimulating conduit for future scientific research.