Abstracts

Rationale: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on how healthcare is delivered to patients with epilepsy. Epilepsy surgery is a strategy with high reported satisfaction rates but can be a stressful journey for patients. We aimed to determine significant challenges faced by the families of children undergoing epilepsy surgery during the pandemic.

Methods: Cross-sectional quality assessment study that included pediatric patients ( < 18 years) that underwent epilepsy surgery at Children's Hospital/LHSC comparing two groups (1. March 2020-February 2021, 2. March 2019-February 2020).

We collected the data at follow-up using a prespecified questionnaire asking to evaluate difficulties on a scale of 1-3. Questions focused on seizure activity, concerns over procedure delay, changes in hospital regulations, fear of exposure to COVID-19 and virtual appointments.

Results: Out of the 35 surgeries planned from March 2020 to February 2021, only 12 (34%) were performed, there was a 60% decrease in the number of surgeries performed compared to 2019. Out of the 12 families undergoing surgery, 11 answered the survey. One family could not answer the survey promptly and therefore was excluded from the study.

Overall, the most challenging aspect of children and their caregivers' surgical journey was ongoing seizure activity while waiting for surgery; only one of the 11 families surveyed did not find it a problem. The rest found it a problematic experience, with four caregivers ranked it as considerably or extremely challenging.

The change in hospital protocols, specifically the limitations in the number allowed visitors inside the hospital, was deemed significantly or extremely challenging by five out of the eleven caregivers.

In general, the fear of being exposed to COVID-19 was low, the majority of families (54%) did not find this to be a challenge at all, and only one caregiver indicated this to be considerably challenging. Only two families reported extreme challenges while conducting telephone or virtual consults; one of these patients lives in a rural community with no telephone or internet services.

Conclusions: The findings of this qualitative study show how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted our epilepsy center regarding surgical procedures. The difficulties expressed by patients' families are expressed qualitatively and helps us grasp the overall burden of disease. It is important to mention that sanitary regulations changed throughout the year, and unsurprisingly, all caregivers that were not allowed to have a companion or support while taking care of their patient found this to be extremely challenging. Overall, parents felt safe with the implemented COVID-19 measures, with no perceived fear of contracting the disease. Regarding virtual care, most families were comfortable with virtual visits and telemedicine protocols.This study was limited due to the small sample size and single-site inclusion criteria.

Funding: Please list any funding that was received in support of this abstract.: No funding.