The Effect of COVID-19 Phobia on the Time of Admission to the Hospital in Patients with Ureteral Stones

Objective: To investigate the effect of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) phobia in patients with ureteral stones. Materials and Methods: Between August 2020 and March 2021, patients over the age of 18 who were diagnosed with ureteral stones were included in this study. The COVID-19 Phobia scale (C19P-S) was used to measure the COVID-19 phobia levels of the patients. Demographic and patients' characteristics were recorded. The time between the onset of the patient's complaint and the time of admission to the hospital was recorded and grouped as group 1 (≤7 days), group 2 (7-21 days), group 3 (>21 days). Results: A total of 77 patients with a mean age of 45.8±14.8 years were eligible for analysis. Among these, 55 (71.4%) were male. According to the time between the onset of the patient's complaint and the time of admission to the hospital, there were 39 (50.6%) patients in group 1 (≤7 days), 17 (22.1%) patients in group 2 (7-21 days) and 21 (27.3%) patients group 3 (>21 days). The median C19P-S scores in these groups were 32.0 (15.0- 46.0), 37.0 (26.0-62.0) and 56.0 (37.0-80.0), respectively. There were significant differences in terms of C19P-S between groups of the time between the onset of the patient's complaint and the time of admission to the hospital (p≤0.001). Conclusion: COVID-19 phobia caused a delay in the hospital admission of patients with ureter stones. When patients have complaints, it is necessary to raise the awareness of society about applying to the hospital and to increase awareness of this issue.