Impact of ICU bed availability on ovarian cancer surgical hospitalization rates during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic: an ecological study.

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic, which began in 2020, disrupted healthcare services. Reports of changes in surgical activity coincide with the outbreak period. We aimed to identify if any changes could be determined in hospitalization rates of ovarian cancer patients from 2016 to 2020, comparing pre-pandemic and pandemic levels. Results: Hospitalization rates in the state fell, coinciding with the pandemic. Surgical hospitalization rate ratios were inversely correlated with COVID-specific ICU bed occupation rates during the third trimester of 2020, with a Pearson Correlation coefficient of -0.50 (95% CI: -0.78 to -0.05, p = 0.03). Observed ovarian cancer hospitaliation rates were 85% compared to expected values if pre-pandemic trends were mantained. Conclusion: A 15% reduction on ovarian cancer hospitalization rates was identified in this scenario. ICU availability was inversely correlated with ovarian cancer surgical activity. These results demonstrate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the treatment of conditions that compete for the same healthcare resources.