Abstract:

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the entire world for approximately three years, and health services have been negatively impacted during this period. This study aims to contribute to the literature by investigating the effects of the pandemic on appeals to a family medicine outpatient clinic in a tertiary hospital. Method: Appeals to the Gaziosmanpaşa University School of Medicine Hospital family medicine outpatient clinic between March 15, 2020, and May 31, 2020, were grouped as pandemic period patients. The data of these patients were compared with the data of patients who appealed during the same time period in the previous year (pre-pandemic period). The data were retrospectively analyzed as demographic information, reasons for appeal, diagnosis, and frequency of appeals. Results: During the pandemic period, 276 patients appealed to our family medicine outpatient clinic, while 899 patients did so in the pre-pandemic period. It was found that the average age of the pandemic period patients was higher than that of the pre-pandemic period patients. In the pandemic period, 26.8% of patients were aged 65 or older, and 54% were male. Additionally, the most common reason for application, with a rate of 43.2%, was to request a prescription. Conclusion: It is pleasing that outpatient clinic appeals decreased by approximately seventy percent during the pandemic period. However, the predominance of appeals from high-risk groups and the fact that the most common reason for application is to request a prescription indicates that additional measures are needed

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