Deferring Elective Urologic Surgery During the COVID-19 Pandemic: the Patients’ Perspective

Abstract Objectives To explore the perspective of urological patients on the possibility to defer elective surgery due to the fear of contracting COVID-19. Methods All patients scheduled for elective urological procedures for malignant or benign diseases at two high-volume Centres were administered a questionnaire, through structured telephone interviews, between 24th and 27th April 2020. The questionnaire included three questions: 1) In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, would you defer the planned surgical intervention? 2) If yes, when would you be willing to undergo surgery? 3) What do you consider potentially more harmful for your health: the risk of contracting COVID-19 during hospitalization or the potential consequences of delaying surgical treatment? Results Overall, 332 patients were included (51.5% and 48.5% in the oncology and benign groups, respectively). Of these, 47.9% patients would have deferred the planned intervention (33.3% vs 63.4%; p Conclusions Our findings reinforce the importance of shared decision-making before urological surgery, leveraging patients’ values and expectations to refine the paradigm of evidence-based medicine during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.