Table I.
Practice changes since the onset of the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic
| Total respondents (N = 206) | VASCON level 1-3 (n = 168) | VASCON level 4-5 (n = 38) | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Located in a high surge state | 70 (34) | 64 (38) | 6 (15) | .008 |
| Time affected, weeks | ||||
| 1-2 | 1 (0.5) | 93 (55) | 27 (71) | .0396 |
| 2-3 | 31 (15) | |||
| 3-4 | 88 (43) | |||
| >4 | 83 (40) | 74 (44) | 9 (24) | |
| Decrease in referrals | ||||
| Clinic referrals | 175 (85) | 148 (88) | 27 (71) | .0123 |
| Inpatient hospital consults (acute) | 134 (65) | 116 (69) | 18 (47) | .0144 |
| Emergency room consults (acute) | 127 (62) | 110 (65) | 17 (45) | .0258 |
| Inpatient hospital consults (chronic) | 148 (72) | 131 (78) | 17 (45) | .0001 |
| Emergency room consults (chronic) | 162 (79) | 140 (83) | 22 (58) | .0005 |
| Practice changes | ||||
| Limiting of elective cases | 201 (98) | 165 (98) | 36 (95) | .2299 |
| Limiting of urgent cases | 65 (32) | 60 (36) | 5 (13) | .0066 |
| Limiting of emergent cases | 10 (5) | 10 (6) | 0 (0) | .2136 |
| Limiting of in-person clinic visits | 192 (93) | 157 (93) | 35 (92) | .7258 |
| Limiting of vascular laboratory visits | 177 (86) | 150 (89) | 27 (71) | .0078 |
| ncreased telehealth visits | 186 (90) | 152 (90) | 34 (89) | .7687 |
| Lengthening call periods (increasing time off between call) | 90 (44) | 78 (46) | 12 (32) | .1060 |
| Staying at home if no clinical duty | 176 (85) | 143 (85) | 33 (87) | 1.0 |
| Providing surgical care you otherwise would not | 23 (11) | 21 (13) | 2 (5) | .2626 |
| Providing critical care for COVID-19 patients | 25 (12) | 24 (14) | 1 (3) | .0534 |
| Providing nonsurgical/non-ICU care for COVID-19 patients | 23 (11) | 24 (14) | 2 (5) | .2626 |
| Decreased compensation | 57 (28) | 45 (27) | 12 (32) | .5519 |
| Cases/week performed before COVID | ||||
| 0-3 | 6 (3) | 5 (3) | 1 (3) | .4933 |
| 4-6 | 46 (22) | 35 (20) | 11 (29) | |
| 7-9 | 69 (33) | 60 (36) | 9 (24) | |
| >10 | 85 (41) | 68 (41) | 17 (45) | |
| Cases/week performed after COVID | ||||
| 0-3 | 142 (69) | 127 (76) | 15 (40) | <.0001 |
| 4-6 | 48 (23) | 36 (21) | 12 (32) | |
| 7-9 | 7 (3) | 1 (6) | 6 (16) | |
| >10 | 9 (4) | 4 (2) | 5 (13) | |
| PPE use | ||||
| At work, I have easy access to PPE | 163 (79) | 126 (75) | 37 (97) | .0014 |
| At work, I have easy access to N95 mask | 130 (63) | 102 (61) | 28 (74) | .1919 |
| I feel pressure to generate RVU | 27 (13) | 20 (12) | 7 (18) | .2914 |
| I feel pressure to capture delayed cases | 65 (32) | 54 (32) | 11 (29) | .8471 |
| Vascular patients with emergent issues are not being handled in a safe/quick manner | 21 (10) | 21 (13) | 0 (0) | .0163 |
| My institution has handled the COVID-19 pandemic well | 148 (72) | 122 (73) | 26 (68) | .6899 |
| Once the COVID-19 pandemic is over, I will wear a mask for all patient care | 36 (18) | 31 (19) | 5 (13) | .6360 |
| Once the COVID-19 pandemic is over, I will wear a mask for patients with symptoms of cough or fever | 123 (60) | 104 (62) | 19 (50) | .2018 |
| Once the COVID-19 pandemic is over, I will stockpile PPE for my own personal use | 40 (19) | 36 (21) | 4 (11) | .1725 |
| I am spending more time with my family since the onset of COVID-19 | 172 (83) | 143 (85) | 29 (76) | .2251 |
ICU, Intensive care unit; PPE, personal protective equipment; RVU, relative value unit; VASCON, Vascular Activity Condition.
Self-reported changes in practice since onset of COVID-19. For PPE statements, respondents who answered agreed or strongly agreed with the statements above on a 5-point Likert scale (strongly disagree to strongly agree) were included.
Values are number (%). Boldface entries indicate statistical significance.