Evaluation of Cleft Lip and Palate Care before and during Pandemic COVID-19 in Indonesia

Abstract

Background: The impact of the high incidence of COVID in Indonesia affects health services. For example, there is a delay in services to elective patients related to room function substitution and the responsibility of health workers for handling COVID cases. This condition also affects cleft lip and palate services in various regions in Indonesia. This study aims to evaluate the number of cleft and palate patients before and during the pandemic. Methods: The study used a retrospective design. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the management of cleft lip and palate at two hospitals that provide free cleft lip and palate surgery services. samples were taken from two smile train partner hospitals including the Jember Lung Hospital, East Java and Aliyah Hospital, Southeast Sulawesi. Data collection techniques using secondary data from medical records. The data collected is the total number of cleft patients who were operated on before the pandemic in 2019 and during the pandemic period in 2020 and 2021. The plastic surgery care service data was obtained from interviews with the outpatient and inpatient service coordinators. The operating service data is divided into 3 categories consisting of hospital facilities and infrastructure, human resources and treatment procedures. The data obtained are presented in the table and analyzed using the Wilcoxon sing rank test with a significance level of p <0.05 to determine the effect of service components on the number of patients. Result: The total number of patients who received plastic surgery treatment was 612 patients, consisting of 298 patients at Jember Lung Hospital, and 314 patients at Aliyah Hospital, Southeast Sulawesi. The results of statistical analysis describe the effect of free cleft lip surgery services before and during the COVID-19 pandemic on the number of patients at Jember Lung Hospital and Aliyah Hospital in partnership with Smiletrain in the Indonesian region from 2019 to 2020 with a p value = 0.000. There is an effect of free cleft lip surgery services before and during the COVID-19 pandemic on the number of patient in Jember Lung Hospitals and Aliyah Hospital partnering with Smiletrain in the Indonesian territory from 2019 to 2021 with a p value of 0.000. The positive rank value of the two hospitals has increased from 2020 to 2021. The increase in the number of patients shows that health services during the 2021 pandemic will be more conducive due to the decline in pandemic levels, increased awareness of health protocols and massive vaccination programs that affect elective health service activities that are starting well according to the new normal rules, including the plastic surgery department. Conclusion: This study describes a significant change in the number of patient with cleft and palate patients before and during the pandemic. There is an effect of cleft lip service before and during the COVID-19 pandemic on the number of patients receiving free surgery services at hospitals partnering with Smiletrain in Indonesia. The results of this evaluation can be used as a reference for making standard operating procedures for the implementation of cleft lip and palate treatment during a pandemic as a problem solver during a pandemic, especially in the territory of Indonesia.