COVID-19 Pandemisinin Çocukluk Çağı Epilepsi Yönetimi Üzerindeki Etkileri; Anket Çalışması

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on March 11, 2020. The pandemic has significantly impacted health systems worldwide, forcing them to reconsider the management of chronic diseases. Reorganization of health systems has inevitably prioritized the management of patients with COVID-19 infection, reducing hospital access for patients with other chronic diseases. Epilepsy is one of the most common chronic diseases of childhood, and pediatric neurologists have reviewed the methods they use in the management and treatment of epilepsy during pandemics. We organized a survey to evaluate the attitudes of pediatric neurologists in epilepsy management during the pandemic period. The 24-item questionnaire, created with Microsoft Forms, was sent to child neurologists via social communication platforms. Data were collected over two weeks. Variables were evaluated with Pearson chi-square and Student's t-test. Mann-Whitney U test and Student's t-test were used to compare the averages between the two groups. p <0.05 value was considered statistically significant. 118 participants (79 women and 39 men) who answered all the questions were included in the study. The mean age of the participants was 41.46±7.49 years, and the median child neurology experience was 6 years (3 months-36 years). The participants mostly postponed the outpatient clinic appointments of patients whose seizures were under control (77.5%). Most participants preferred to reduce the number or postpone electroencephalographies (EEG) during this period. The outpatient clinic visits of patients with well-controlled epileptic seizures can be postponed during the pandemic. In cases where face-to-face communication is not possible during the pandemic period, the patients' medical history and video images may help diagnose. The telemedicine method can also be useful in the post-pandemic period in the follow-up and management of patients with controlled epileptic seizures.