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. 2021 Dec;29(12):7591-7599.
doi: 10.1007/s00520-021-06324-4. Epub 2021 Jun 14.

The impact of COVID-19 on patients with hematological malignancies: the mixed-method analysis of an Israeli national survey

Ilana Levy  1   2 , Giora Sharf  3 , Shlomit Norman  4 , Tamar Tadmor  5   6
Affiliations

The impact of COVID-19 on patients with hematological malignancies: the mixed-method analysis of an Israeli national survey

Ilana Levy et al. Support Care Cancer. 2021 Dec.

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic required reevaluation of the therapeutic approach and added emotional stress for patients with hematological malignancies at high risk of contracting the virus. We aimed to evaluate how it affected such patients during the second lockdown in Israel.

Methods: This national survey included Hebrew-speaking patients with hematological malignancy. This included three tools with 28 items of sociodemographic and medical baseline characteristics, management of hematological disease, and evaluation of emotional coping during COVID-19 pandemic; the Hebrew version of the Patient Health Questionnaire 9; and 3 qualitative open-ended questions. Data was analyzed by mixed methods which combined both quantitative and qualitative thematic analyses.

Results: Four hundred eight patients responded to the survey. The management of their hematological disease included a decrease in the number of visits to the hematology clinic (37.0%), delay of some treatment schedules (9.1%), and prescription of replacement therapies permitting less visits to the clinic (2.2%). The frequency and intensity of "feeling afraid" regarding COVID-19 infection was increased (mean ± SD: 4 ± 1 to 5 ± 2 in a 1-7 Likert scale), and a high rate of depression was recorded, which appeared to be more evident in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) (p < 0.001).

Conclusion: The management of hematological malignancies during pandemics should always take into consideration patients' fears, as well as the development of depression related to isolation and loneliness, in addition to the high risk of severe disease. Patients with CML had a high rate of depression which obviously needs to be managed very carefully during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19; Coping; Depression; Hematological malignancies; Mixed methods; Survey.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Depression assessment by Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9). A Categorization of depression according to PHQ-9 responding. B Categorization of depression in different hematological malignancies. Legend: CML, chronic myeloid leukemia; CLL, chronic lymphocytic leukemia; HCL, hairy cell leukemia; MM, multiple myeloma; MPN, myeloproliferative neoplasm
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