The impact of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions on general practitioner contacts among patients with common and at-risk diagnoses: a Norwegian registry-based study.
Background: Disease prevention strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic could potentially disrupt the continuity of care. Aims: (1) describe changes in contacts with general practitioner (GP) before and during the pandemic, (2) compare consultation rates for common and at-risk diagnoses, and (3) exam...
| Publicado en: | Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care Vol. 43; no. 3; pp. 660 - 672 |
|---|---|
| Autores principales: | , , , , , |
| Formato: | research tables/charts Journal Article |
| Publicado: |
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Sep2025
|
| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=187499147&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 187499147 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 02813432 BDB jtl: Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care issn: 02813432 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: Sep2025 vid: 43 iid: 3 pid: 377 pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd place: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania artinfo: ui: 187499147 184645589 187499147 187499147 10.1080/02813432.2025.2491762 187499147 ppf: 660 ppct: 12 formats: fmt: @attributes: type: P tig: atl: The impact of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions on general practitioner contacts among patients with common and at-risk diagnoses: a Norwegian registry-based study. aug: au: Dale, Jonas Nordvik Morken, Tone Eliassen, Knut Eirik Blinkenberg, Jesper Rortveit, Guri Baste, Valborg affil: National Centre for Emergency Primary Health Care, NORCE Norwegian Research Centre, Bergen, Norway sug: subj: COVID-19 Pandemic Stay-at-Home Orders Psychosocial Factors COVID-19 Risk Factors Referral and Consultation Evaluation Physicians, Family Contact Tracing Risk Assessment Human Adolescence Adult Middle Age Aged Aged, 80 and Over Male Female Norway Funding Source Comparative Studies Primary Health Care COVID-19 Diagnosis COVID-19 Mortality Mortality Risk Factors Interrupted Time Series Analysis Remote Consultation Descriptive Statistics Morbidity Adolescent: 13-18 years Adult: 19-44 years Middle Aged: 45-64 years Aged: 65+ years Aged, 80 & over Male Female ab: Background: Disease prevention strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic could potentially disrupt the continuity of care. Aims: (1) describe changes in contacts with general practitioner (GP) before and during the pandemic, (2) compare consultation rates for common and at-risk diagnoses, and (3) examine the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on monthly consultation rates across patient subgroups. Methods: Register study with data from the Norwegian Registry for Primary Health Care (NRPHC) for the period 1 April 2018 to 30 March 2021. Changes in consultation rate were the main outcome. Twenty-five diagnoses representing common and at-risk for mortality diagnoses were studied. Interrupted time series analyses were applied. Results: Face-to-face consultations decreased from 2935 to 2304 per 1000 inhabitants per year from the pre-pandemic period to the first pandemic year, with an increase in e-consultations from 60 to 846 per 1000 inhabitants per year. Consultations for common diagnoses decreased by 25.6%, whereas those for high-risk diagnoses decreased by 10.7%. In the group of common diagnoses, the decrease in average monthly consultation rates was less among the eldest compared to the youngest age group. A similar decrease was found in the group with multiple morbid conditions compared to single or no morbidity. Conclusions: The pandemic resulted in fewer face-to-face consultations, but there was a substantial rise in electronic consultations. Consultations for at-risk for mortality diagnoses decreased relatively less than for common diagnoses. Consultation rates for older adults and those with multiple decreased less, suggesting that sicker patients continued to visit their GP during the pandemic. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: research tables/charts Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
|---|