Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Turkiye Klinikleri Pediatri, cilt.33, sa.2, ss.48-55, 2024 (Scopus)
Objective: The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has created a substantial public health problem for our country and the world. In this study, we aimed to investigate the problems experienced by pediatric patients with epilepsy during the pandemic period and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on pediatric patients with epilepsy. Material and Methods: Our study was applied as a cross-sectional survey study to patients who were followed up with a diagnosis of epilepsy in the pediatric neurology outpatient clinic between 01 December 2020-28 February 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: Data from a total of 207 patients are presented in this study. The average age was 9.08 (5.08-13.08) years, the diagnosis age was 2.41 (0.91-6.08) years, and the epilepsy follow-up period was 4.33 (2.1-7.2) years. 47.8% of the patients are girls. In this study, at least one family member of 23 (11.1%) cases was diagnosed with COVID-19, and 9 cases (4.3%) were hospitalized due to COVID-19. Considering the problems encountered by our patients, 61.8% (128 cases) of the families stated that they were hesitant about coming to the hospital, and 35.3% (73 cases) did not come for a follow-up examination. 17.9% (37 cases) state that they have problems accessing the hospital, and 27.1% (56 cases) state that they have problems accessing the doctor. Electroencephalogram recording was postponed during this period in 44 cases (21.3%). Nineteen cases (9.2%) stated that they had problems accessing medication, and 6 cases (2.9%) stated that they missed their medication. There was an increase in the seizure frequency in 13 cases (6.3%). Forty-nine cases (23.7%) had seizures during this period, and 22 cases (10.6%) were hospitalized due to seizures. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic has created a substantial public health problem both in our country and around the world, and its effects still affect the whole world and our country. Even if epilepsy patients' routine outpatient clinic visits have been postponed during the pandemic period, they should be able to communicate with their physicians through methods other than face-to-face meetings in emergencies.