Abstract
The COVID 19 has become a significant public health issue worldwide, leading to the cancelation of several elective surgeries, including orthopedics. This study aimed to explore the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on orthopedic patients of northern Saudi and to evaluate the psychological effect and improvement on the patients who have appointments that were canceled due to the pandemic. In this cross-sectional study, 405 adult orthopedic patients were randomly enrolled. A pre-tested questionnaire was used in data collection. This study revealed that (46.7%) of the patients had visits to the orthopedic department during the COVID-19 pandemic; (8.9%) of the patients attended the clinic, (12.6%) called in a virtual clinic. Most of the patients (37%) were affected by this canceled or postponed visit, whereas (56.3%) of the patients were satisfied with these changes. About the psychological effect of the COVID-19 pandemic; (37%) of the patients felt nervous, anxious, on edge, or worrying a lot about the disease. Most of the patients were not very easily getting tired at all (42.7%). (38%) had muscle tension, aches, or soreness for several days. One-third (33.6%) of the patients become easily annoyed or irritable for several days. The COVID-19 pandemic affected one-third of the patients psychologically, such as pandemic by feeling nervous, anxious, restless, and easily annoyed for several days. A focused health program to be conducted by the concerned authorities to resolve the issues faced by the patients.