{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,27]],"date-time":"2026-04-27T17:53:20Z","timestamp":1777312400972,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":24,"publisher":"Hamad bin Khalifa University Press (HBKU Press)","issue":"2","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    <jats:bold>Background:<\/jats:bold>\n                    In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. Healthcare organizations across the world introduced various measures to restrict the spread of the disease, with an increasing reliance on telephonic consultations as a key measure to limit exposure to COVID-19 in hospital facilities. This study assesses the impact of restrictive measures on gynecological emergency services by comparing services before the COVID-19 pandemic with services during the first and second waves of the pandemic (COVID-19 Peak 1 and COVID-19 Peak 2).\n                  <\/jats:p>\n                  <jats:p>\n                    <jats:bold>Method:<\/jats:bold>\n                    This was a retrospective single-center cross-sectional study comparing the first 50 women attending the emergency department (ED) of the Women\u2019s Wellness and Research Center in Qatar with a gynecological complaint during three distinct periods. The peak of the first COVID-19 wave from June 2020 was considered COVID-19 Peak 1, and the peak of the second wave from April 2021 was COVID-19 Peak 2. The control group included 50 women who attended the ED during non-COVID-19 times. Early pregnancy complications (miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy) were compared between the three periods to determine the impact of the COVID-19 restrictions on the clinical presentation, subsequent management, and any patient safety issues arising out of this in terms of complications.\n                  <\/jats:p>\n                  <jats:p>\n                    <jats:bold>Results:<\/jats:bold>\n                    Data from 50 patients were analyzed during each study period (total = 150). There were no statistically significant differences in age, nationality, and parity between the three groups. The gestational age at diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy or miscarriage was significantly higher, 12.4 \u00b1 4.0 weeks during COVID-19 Peak 1 compared to 10.9 \u00b1 3.6 in pre-COVID-19 and 9.7 \u00b1 3.9 in COVID-19 Peak 2 (\n                    <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                    = 0.002). The length of hospital stays (median \u00b1 interquartile range) for women with the diagnosis of miscarriage was significantly shorter during COVID-19 Peak 1(1 \u00b1 2 days) compared to pre-COVID-19 (2 \u00b1 1.5) and COVID-19 Peak 2 (1 \u00b1 2), with\n                    <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                    &lt; 0.001. There was no difference in patient demographics, symptoms at presentation, type of management, and timing of surgical management.\n                  <\/jats:p>\n                  <jats:p>\n                    <jats:bold>Conclusion:<\/jats:bold>\n                    The COVID-19 restrictions led to a major shift in the way healthcare was delivered, with increased use of telephone consultations and prompt early discharge from the hospital. Although we did not record safety issues or adverse outcomes, we found a delay in gestational age at presentation and diagnosis, which has the potential to lead to adverse outcomes. The COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted the importance of telemedicine in healthcare practice.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.5339\/qmj.2025.43","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,15]],"date-time":"2025-07-15T11:30:47Z","timestamp":1752579047000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Impact of healthcare restrictions due to COVID-19 on early pregnancy complications: A cross-sectional study"],"prefix":"10.5339","volume":"2025","author":[{"given":"Idriss","family":"Gharbi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Women\u2019s Wellness and Research Center, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yasser","family":"Abdelaal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Women\u2019s Wellness and Research Center, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Moayyad","family":"Younis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Women\u2019s Wellness and Research Center, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Fathima","family":"Minisha","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Women\u2019s Wellness and Research Center, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar"},{"name":"Department of Research, Women\u2019s Wellness and Research Center, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Obe","family":"John Ame","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Women\u2019s Wellness and Research Center, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Victor","family":"Olagundoye","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Women\u2019s Wellness and Research Center, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Thomas","family":"Farrell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Women\u2019s Wellness and Research Center, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar"},{"name":"Department of Research, Women\u2019s Wellness and Research Center, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar"},{"name":"College of Medicine, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar*Correspondence: Victor Olagundoye volagundoye@hamad.qa"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"3277","reference":[{"issue":"(7):","key":"CIT0001","series-title":"J Med Virol","first-page":"731\u20139","article-title":"Maternal health care management during the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019","volume":"92","author":"Chen\n \nY","year":"2020;"},{"issue":"(1):","key":"CIT0002","series-title":"Int J Gynaecol Obstet","first-page":"39\u201342","article-title":"The impact of COVID-19 lockdown on admission to gynecological emergency departments: results from a multicenter Italian study","volume":"151","author":"Grandi\n \nG","year":"2020;"},{"issue":"(3):","key":"CIT0003","series-title":"Disaster Med Public Health Prep","first-page":"1273\u20136","article-title":"COVID-19 surge capacity solutions: our experience of converting a concert hall into a temporary hospital for mid and moderate COVID-19 patients","volume":"16","author":"Sacchetto\n \nD","year":"2022:"},{"issue":"(1):","key":"CIT0004","series-title":"J Hosp Infect","first-page":"98\u20139","article-title":"Makeshift hospitals for COVID-19 patients: where health-care workers and patients need sufficient ventilation for more protection","volume":"105","author":"Chen\n \nC","year":"2020:"},{"issue":"(4):","key":"CIT0005","series-title":"In Vivo","first-page":"1570\u20139","article-title":"To fight or to flee? 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The impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Obstetrics and gynecologic procedures and the Consults at a New York City Hospital","volume":"28","author":"Spurlin\n \nEE","year":"2021;"},{"issue":"(10):","key":"CIT0012","series-title":"BJOG","first-page":"1625\u201334","article-title":"Impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 on ectopic pregnancy management in the United Kingdom: a multicentre observational study","volume":"128","author":"Platts\n \nS","year":"2021;"}],"container-title":["Qatar Medical Journal"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.qscience.com\/view\/journals\/qmj\/2025\/2\/article-43.xml","content-type":"text\/html","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.qscience.com\/downloadpdf\/journals\/qmj\/2025\/2\/article-43.xml","content-type":"text\/html","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"syndication"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.qscience.com\/downloadpdf\/journals\/qmj\/2025\/2\/article-43.xml","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,27]],"date-time":"2026-04-27T17:17:16Z","timestamp":1777310236000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.qscience.com\/view\/journals\/qmj\/2025\/2\/article-43.xml"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025]]},"references-count":24,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2"},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.5339\/qmj.2025.43","relation":{},"ISSN":["2227-0426"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2227-0426","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025]]}}}