Reorganisation of primary care for older adults during COVID-19: A cross-sectional database study in the UK

<p><strong>Background:</strong><br /> The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in a rapid change in workload across healthcare systems. Factors related to this adaptation in UK primary care have not yet been examined.</p><br/> <p><st...

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Asıl Yazarlar: Joy, M, McGagh, D, Jones, N, Liyange, H, Sherlock, J, Parimalanathan, V, Akinyemi, O, van Vlymen, J, Howsam, G, Marshall, M, Hobbs, FDR, De Lusignan, S
Materyal Türü: Journal article
Dil:English
Baskı/Yayın Bilgisi: Royal College of General Practitioners 2020
_version_ 1826275852753567744
author Joy, M
McGagh, D
Jones, N
Liyange, H
Sherlock, J
Parimalanathan, V
Akinyemi, O
van Vlymen, J
Howsam, G
Marshall, M
Hobbs, FDR
De Lusignan, S
author_facet Joy, M
McGagh, D
Jones, N
Liyange, H
Sherlock, J
Parimalanathan, V
Akinyemi, O
van Vlymen, J
Howsam, G
Marshall, M
Hobbs, FDR
De Lusignan, S
author_sort Joy, M
collection OXFORD
description <p><strong>Background:</strong><br /> The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in a rapid change in workload across healthcare systems. Factors related to this adaptation in UK primary care have not yet been examined.</p><br/> <p><strong>Aim:</strong><br /> To assess the responsiveness and prioritisation of primary care consultation type for older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><br /> <p><strong>Design and Setting:</strong><br /> A cross-sectional database study examining consultations between 17 February and 10 May 2020 for patients aged ≥65 years, drawn from primary care practices within the Oxford Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Research and Surveillance Centre (RSC) sentinel network, UK.</p><br /> <p><strong>Method:</strong><br /> The authors reported the proportion of consultation type across five categories: clinical administration, electronic/video, face-to-face, telephone, and home visits. Temporal trends in telephone and face-to-face consultations were analysed by polypharmacy, frailty status, and socioeconomic group using incidence rate ratios (IRR).</p><br /> <p><strong>Results:</strong><br /> Across 3 851 304 consultations, the population median age was 75 years (interquartile range [IQR] 70–82); and 46% (n = 82 926) of the cohort (N = 180 420) were male. The rate of telephone and electronic/video consultations more than doubled across the study period (106.0% and 102.8%, respectively). Face-to-face consultations fell by 64.6% and home visits by 62.6%. This predominantly occurred across week 11 (week commencing 9 March 2020), coinciding with national policy change. Polypharmacy and frailty were associated with a relative increase in consultations. The greatest relative increase was among people taking ≥10 medications compared with those taking none (face-to-face IRR 9.90, 95% CI = 9.55 to 10.26; telephone IRR 17.64, 95% CI = 16.89 to 18.41).</p><br /> <p><strong>Conclusion:</strong><br /> Primary care has undergone an unprecedented in-pandemic reorganisation while retaining focus on patients with increased complexity.</p>
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spelling oxford-uuid:63825999-8bc5-4f5b-813d-1a0644fbc1112022-03-26T18:13:32ZReorganisation of primary care for older adults during COVID-19: A cross-sectional database study in the UKJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:63825999-8bc5-4f5b-813d-1a0644fbc111EnglishSymplectic ElementsRoyal College of General Practitioners2020Joy, MMcGagh, DJones, NLiyange, HSherlock, JParimalanathan, VAkinyemi, Ovan Vlymen, JHowsam, GMarshall, MHobbs, FDRDe Lusignan, S<p><strong>Background:</strong><br /> The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in a rapid change in workload across healthcare systems. Factors related to this adaptation in UK primary care have not yet been examined.</p><br/> <p><strong>Aim:</strong><br /> To assess the responsiveness and prioritisation of primary care consultation type for older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><br /> <p><strong>Design and Setting:</strong><br /> A cross-sectional database study examining consultations between 17 February and 10 May 2020 for patients aged ≥65 years, drawn from primary care practices within the Oxford Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Research and Surveillance Centre (RSC) sentinel network, UK.</p><br /> <p><strong>Method:</strong><br /> The authors reported the proportion of consultation type across five categories: clinical administration, electronic/video, face-to-face, telephone, and home visits. Temporal trends in telephone and face-to-face consultations were analysed by polypharmacy, frailty status, and socioeconomic group using incidence rate ratios (IRR).</p><br /> <p><strong>Results:</strong><br /> Across 3 851 304 consultations, the population median age was 75 years (interquartile range [IQR] 70–82); and 46% (n = 82 926) of the cohort (N = 180 420) were male. The rate of telephone and electronic/video consultations more than doubled across the study period (106.0% and 102.8%, respectively). Face-to-face consultations fell by 64.6% and home visits by 62.6%. This predominantly occurred across week 11 (week commencing 9 March 2020), coinciding with national policy change. Polypharmacy and frailty were associated with a relative increase in consultations. The greatest relative increase was among people taking ≥10 medications compared with those taking none (face-to-face IRR 9.90, 95% CI = 9.55 to 10.26; telephone IRR 17.64, 95% CI = 16.89 to 18.41).</p><br /> <p><strong>Conclusion:</strong><br /> Primary care has undergone an unprecedented in-pandemic reorganisation while retaining focus on patients with increased complexity.</p>
spellingShingle Joy, M
McGagh, D
Jones, N
Liyange, H
Sherlock, J
Parimalanathan, V
Akinyemi, O
van Vlymen, J
Howsam, G
Marshall, M
Hobbs, FDR
De Lusignan, S
Reorganisation of primary care for older adults during COVID-19: A cross-sectional database study in the UK
title Reorganisation of primary care for older adults during COVID-19: A cross-sectional database study in the UK
title_full Reorganisation of primary care for older adults during COVID-19: A cross-sectional database study in the UK
title_fullStr Reorganisation of primary care for older adults during COVID-19: A cross-sectional database study in the UK
title_full_unstemmed Reorganisation of primary care for older adults during COVID-19: A cross-sectional database study in the UK
title_short Reorganisation of primary care for older adults during COVID-19: A cross-sectional database study in the UK
title_sort reorganisation of primary care for older adults during covid 19 a cross sectional database study in the uk
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