Evaluating the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on hypertension and diabetes care in South Korea: an interrupted time series analysis

BMC Public Health

Research

Eun Woo Nam¹  Boram Sim²  Sunmi Kim³ 

[1] Department of Health Administration, College of Software and Digital Convergence, Yonsei University, Wonju, Korea;Yonsei Global Health Center, Yonsei University, Wonju, Korea;HIRA Research Institute, Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA), Wonju, Korea;Korea Pharmaceutical Information Service, Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA), Wonju, Korea;

关键词: COVID-19;    Pandemic;    Chronic disease;    Outpatient care;    Access to care;    Interrupted time series;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-023-16430-z

 received in 2022-08-03, accepted in 2023-07-31,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundAccess to healthcare services is important, especially for patients with chronic diseases. We evaluated the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on outpatient visits and medication for patients with hypertension and diabetes in South Korea.MethodsNationwide claims data were extracted for patients with hypertension and diabetes from January 2019 to July 2020. We used an interrupted time series (ITS) analysis to evaluate the pandemic’s impact on outpatient care using the number of outpatient visits and days of medication supplied per visit. We identified the change in the continuity of care in medication, a consequence of the change in outpatient care, using the Medication Possession Ratio (MPR).ResultsThe number of outpatient visits for diabetes significantly declined in February 2020, when community transmission began. However, when high-intensity social distancing was relaxed in April 2020, outpatient visits for hypertension and diabetes rebounded significantly. Moreover, when the outpatient visits declined, the number of days of medication supplied per visit increased. Consequently, the average MPRs significantly increased compared to 2019, increasing the ratio of patients with appropriate medication supply (MPR ≥ 0.8).ConclusionsOutpatient visits decreased immediately when COVID-19 spread to local communities. However, the number of days of medication supplied per visit increased to compensate for the longer intervals between visits. Rather, the change in the continuity of care in medication improved; thus, the temporary decrease in outpatient visits might have had a limited negative impact on health outcomes.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature 2023

【 图 表 】

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