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Global Health Econ Sustain COVID-19 pandemic and quality of life of cancer patients

relevant titles were carefully read, and those that did not
match the inclusion criteria were rejected. Finally, relevant Identification of studies via databases
studies were carefully read and gathered. To avoid bias,
each author of the thesis independently carried out the
reading and rejection processes (Patelarou & Brokalaki, PubMed: 296 articles
2010). No attempt was made to contact the authors of the
papers if the data were unclear. Bachelor’s, postgraduate, After reading
and doctoral theses were also included in the rejection 178 articles were rejected the title
process. The final selection of the studies that comprised
the bibliography for the present review was made after a After reading the
discussion with the authors of the paper. The titles and 92 articles were rejected abstract
abstracts of all selected studies were carefully reviewed,
and if relevant, the full texts were obtained and reviewed. After reading
Titles, abstracts, and full texts were independently assessed 11 articles were rejected the full text
by the two authors who contributed to the present study.
Disagreements were resolved through discussion. No
attempt was made to contact the authors of the papers if Final number of studies: 27
the data were unclear.
Figure 1. A PRISMA flow diagram summarizing the screening process
3. Results of articles.
When searching the electronic databases, information was experiences, they increase awareness of the psychological
collected only from international bibliographic sources challenges of cancer patients, thus helping to solve them.
because the Greek databases did not meet the research
questions and inclusion criteria. Initially, the search Kumar and Dey (2020), through their review, concluded
focused on scientific articles that referred to the quality that although delays in treatment have a negative impact
of life of cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. on the survival and quality of life of cancer patients, there
Subsequently, during the bibliographic review, an extensive are several advantages, which proves the importance
search was conducted using three databases: PubMed, the of weighing delays in treatment against the benefits of
Cochrane Library, and BMC. However, because all of the continuing it during the pandemic. Pelle et al. (2020),
research studies were available in the electronic source to conduct their literature review, drew data from the
PubMed, to avoid duplicates, it was decided to take all Regina Elena National Institute in Rome and examined
the studies from the specific bibliographic electronic the possibility of surgery for breast cancer during the
source, with the result that the Cochrane Library and pandemic. According to their data, 79 patients were
BMC electronic databases were not used for the present successfully operated upon. As this number was within
bibliographic review. Using filters and keywords, 296 the percentage of patients who underwent surgery under
results were obtained from the online resource PubMed. normal circumstances, the authors concluded that the
As shown in Figure 1, of these 296, 178 were rejected institute was not affected by COVID-19. Wang et al. (2020)
due to the title, 92 after reading the abstract, and 11 after referred to a review of the epidemiological characteristics
reading the full text. In conclusion, after a discussion by of COVID-19 and how it affects individuals with lung
the researchers, it was unanimously agreed that 27 articles cancer. They also emphasized the need for early diagnosis
were used to write the present bibliographic review. and focused on the psychology of patients during the
Qualitative and quantitative methodologies were used for pandemic.
the studies included in the analysis. To conduct their literature review, Longo et al. (2021)
Li et al. (2021) performed an extensive literature review sought information from research studies but mainly
of 70 studies investigating the impact of the COVID-19 extracted data from a tertiary referral center in Southern
pandemic on the diagnosis and treatment of cancer Italy. Their purpose was to present ways in which medical
patients, thereby uncovering the risk factors and markers staff would have the ability to treat patients with head-and-
of serious illness associated with COVID-19. Garutti et al. neck cancer (HNC) during the outbreak of the pandemic
(2020), after investigating research studies and reviews, without the risk of transmission and spread of the virus.
summarized the psychological effects of the pandemic Specific ways include the reorganization of the operation of
on cancer patients by providing practical suggestions health services with the establishment of special protocols
for their management. By sharing their personal clinical and the use of telemedicine.

Volume 2 Issue 2 (2024) 3 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.2636