The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the incidence of diseases and the provision of primary care: A registry-based study.
<h4>Introduction</h4>The Covid-19 pandemic had a tremendous impact on healthcare but uncertainty remains about the extent to which primary care provision was affected. Therefore, this paper aims to assess the impact on primary care provision and the evolution of the incidence of disease...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2022-01-01
|
| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0271049 |
| _version_ | 1828373834426744832 |
|---|---|
| author | Steve Van den Bulck Jonas Crèvecoeur Bert Aertgeerts Nicolas Delvaux Thomas Neyens Gijs Van Pottelbergh Patrick Coursier Bert Vaes |
| author_facet | Steve Van den Bulck Jonas Crèvecoeur Bert Aertgeerts Nicolas Delvaux Thomas Neyens Gijs Van Pottelbergh Patrick Coursier Bert Vaes |
| author_sort | Steve Van den Bulck |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <h4>Introduction</h4>The Covid-19 pandemic had a tremendous impact on healthcare but uncertainty remains about the extent to which primary care provision was affected. Therefore, this paper aims to assess the impact on primary care provision and the evolution of the incidence of disease during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic in Flanders (Belgium).<h4>Methods</h4>Care provision was defined as the number of new entries added to a patient's medical history. Pre-pandemic care provision (February 1, 2018-January 31, 2020) was compared with care provision during the pandemic (February 1, 2020-January 31, 2021). A large morbidity registry (Intego) was used. Regression models compared the effect of demographic characteristics on care provision and on acute and chronic diagnoses incidence both prior and during the pandemic.<h4>Results</h4>During the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, overall care provision increased with 9.1% (95%CI 8.5%;9.6%). There was an increase in acute diagnoses of 5.1% (95%CI 4.2%;6.0%) and a decrease in the selected chronic diagnoses of 12.8% (95% CI 7.0%;18.4%). Obesity was an exception with an overall incidence increase. The pandemic led to strong fluctuations in care provision that were not the same for all types of care and all demographic groups in Flanders. Relative to other groups in the population, the pandemic caused a reduction in care provision for children aged 0-17 year and patients from a lower socio-economic situation.<h4>Conclusion</h4>This paper strengthened the claim that Covid-19 should be considered as a syndemic instead of a pandemic. During the first Covid-19 year, overall care provision and the incidence of acute diagnoses increased, whereas chronic diseases' incidence decreased, except for obesity diagnoses which increased. More granular, care provision and chronic diseases' incidence decreased during the lockdowns, especially for people with a lower socio-economic status. After the lockdowns they both returned to baseline. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-14T07:24:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-acff46c0ec8b40d5be481f88d6039858 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-14T07:24:47Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-acff46c0ec8b40d5be481f88d60398582022-12-22T02:06:03ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032022-01-01177e027104910.1371/journal.pone.0271049The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the incidence of diseases and the provision of primary care: A registry-based study.Steve Van den BulckJonas CrèvecoeurBert AertgeertsNicolas DelvauxThomas NeyensGijs Van PottelberghPatrick CoursierBert Vaes<h4>Introduction</h4>The Covid-19 pandemic had a tremendous impact on healthcare but uncertainty remains about the extent to which primary care provision was affected. Therefore, this paper aims to assess the impact on primary care provision and the evolution of the incidence of disease during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic in Flanders (Belgium).<h4>Methods</h4>Care provision was defined as the number of new entries added to a patient's medical history. Pre-pandemic care provision (February 1, 2018-January 31, 2020) was compared with care provision during the pandemic (February 1, 2020-January 31, 2021). A large morbidity registry (Intego) was used. Regression models compared the effect of demographic characteristics on care provision and on acute and chronic diagnoses incidence both prior and during the pandemic.<h4>Results</h4>During the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, overall care provision increased with 9.1% (95%CI 8.5%;9.6%). There was an increase in acute diagnoses of 5.1% (95%CI 4.2%;6.0%) and a decrease in the selected chronic diagnoses of 12.8% (95% CI 7.0%;18.4%). Obesity was an exception with an overall incidence increase. The pandemic led to strong fluctuations in care provision that were not the same for all types of care and all demographic groups in Flanders. Relative to other groups in the population, the pandemic caused a reduction in care provision for children aged 0-17 year and patients from a lower socio-economic situation.<h4>Conclusion</h4>This paper strengthened the claim that Covid-19 should be considered as a syndemic instead of a pandemic. During the first Covid-19 year, overall care provision and the incidence of acute diagnoses increased, whereas chronic diseases' incidence decreased, except for obesity diagnoses which increased. More granular, care provision and chronic diseases' incidence decreased during the lockdowns, especially for people with a lower socio-economic status. After the lockdowns they both returned to baseline.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0271049 |
| spellingShingle | Steve Van den Bulck Jonas Crèvecoeur Bert Aertgeerts Nicolas Delvaux Thomas Neyens Gijs Van Pottelbergh Patrick Coursier Bert Vaes The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the incidence of diseases and the provision of primary care: A registry-based study. PLoS ONE |
| title | The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the incidence of diseases and the provision of primary care: A registry-based study. |
| title_full | The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the incidence of diseases and the provision of primary care: A registry-based study. |
| title_fullStr | The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the incidence of diseases and the provision of primary care: A registry-based study. |
| title_full_unstemmed | The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the incidence of diseases and the provision of primary care: A registry-based study. |
| title_short | The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the incidence of diseases and the provision of primary care: A registry-based study. |
| title_sort | impact of the covid 19 pandemic on the incidence of diseases and the provision of primary care a registry based study |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0271049 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT stevevandenbulck theimpactofthecovid19pandemicontheincidenceofdiseasesandtheprovisionofprimarycarearegistrybasedstudy AT jonascrevecoeur theimpactofthecovid19pandemicontheincidenceofdiseasesandtheprovisionofprimarycarearegistrybasedstudy AT bertaertgeerts theimpactofthecovid19pandemicontheincidenceofdiseasesandtheprovisionofprimarycarearegistrybasedstudy AT nicolasdelvaux theimpactofthecovid19pandemicontheincidenceofdiseasesandtheprovisionofprimarycarearegistrybasedstudy AT thomasneyens theimpactofthecovid19pandemicontheincidenceofdiseasesandtheprovisionofprimarycarearegistrybasedstudy AT gijsvanpottelbergh theimpactofthecovid19pandemicontheincidenceofdiseasesandtheprovisionofprimarycarearegistrybasedstudy AT patrickcoursier theimpactofthecovid19pandemicontheincidenceofdiseasesandtheprovisionofprimarycarearegistrybasedstudy AT bertvaes theimpactofthecovid19pandemicontheincidenceofdiseasesandtheprovisionofprimarycarearegistrybasedstudy AT stevevandenbulck impactofthecovid19pandemicontheincidenceofdiseasesandtheprovisionofprimarycarearegistrybasedstudy AT jonascrevecoeur impactofthecovid19pandemicontheincidenceofdiseasesandtheprovisionofprimarycarearegistrybasedstudy AT bertaertgeerts impactofthecovid19pandemicontheincidenceofdiseasesandtheprovisionofprimarycarearegistrybasedstudy AT nicolasdelvaux impactofthecovid19pandemicontheincidenceofdiseasesandtheprovisionofprimarycarearegistrybasedstudy AT thomasneyens impactofthecovid19pandemicontheincidenceofdiseasesandtheprovisionofprimarycarearegistrybasedstudy AT gijsvanpottelbergh impactofthecovid19pandemicontheincidenceofdiseasesandtheprovisionofprimarycarearegistrybasedstudy AT patrickcoursier impactofthecovid19pandemicontheincidenceofdiseasesandtheprovisionofprimarycarearegistrybasedstudy AT bertvaes impactofthecovid19pandemicontheincidenceofdiseasesandtheprovisionofprimarycarearegistrybasedstudy |