Quality of Life of Urolithiasis Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Multi-Institutional Cross-Sectional Study

Wong, Victor Kf; Bhojani, Naeem; Bird, Vincent; Streeper, Nicole; Nakada, Stephen Y; Penniston, Kristina L; Chew, Ben H

Purpose The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented global event that has caused significant fear and anxiety across all populations. To date, there have been no studies on how major health crises have affected the stone-related quality-of-life (QOL) of urolithiasis patients. In this multi-institutional study, we investigated whether the fear of COVID-19 affects the QOL of urolithiasis patients during the COVID-19 pandemic using the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) and the Wisconsin Stone Quality of Life (WISQOL) questionnaires. Materials and Methods Patient-reported data collection occurred between April-October 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic where many procedures (radiological or surgical) and visits were either delayed or cancelled. The scores generated from patient-reported responses to questionnaires were correlated and then further sub-analyzed dependent on categorical responses related to procedural delays or care and were analyzed via the Student's T-test. A single factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to analyze varying QOL scores across the FCV-19S quartiles. Results 400 respondents participated in this study. Overall mean total standardized FCV-19S and WISQOL scores (both transformed to min-max 0-100) were 34.3 and 70.3 respectively. A significant inverse correlation (r=-0.265, p<0.0001) was demonstrated suggesting greater COVID-19 fear may result in lower stone-related quality-of-life. A significant difference in fear and QOL scores was observed between the sexes, with women having more COVID-19 fear (35.8 vs. 28.6, p<0.01) and lower stone-related QOL (64.2 vs. 75.2, p<0.01). Quartile ANOVA analysis revealed significant mean difference in WISQOL scores across all FCV-19S score quartiles (p<0.05). Conclusions Using two validated questionnaires (FCV-19S and WISQOL) and correlating patient-reported responses, we found that greater fear for COVID-19 was associated lower stone-related QOL in urolithiasis patients.