Perceived impact of COVID-19 on routine care of patients with chronic non-communicable diseases: a cross-sectional study.

Introduction: patients with chronic non-communicable diseases (chronic liver diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, neurologic diseases, chronic kidney diseases, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension), primarily poor, rural and neglected populations, have had difficulty accessing health care and have been severely impacted both socially and financially in during the pandemic. As a result, this study was designed to assess the perceived impact of COVID-19 on routine care of chronic non-communicable disease patients in Ethiopia. Methods: a cross-section survey was conducted among 404 participants from April 1st 2021 to May 30th 2021. Data were collected via interviewer administered questionnaires administered by pre-tested interviewers on socio-demographic characteristics, treatment and clinical features and routine care questionnaires that have been adapted and modified from different literatures. The study consisted of all adult outpatients with at least one chronic non-communicable disease who were followed up. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences Version 23. Results: of the 422 participants, 404 responded for a response rate of 95.7%. One out of two (203, 50.2%) participants was aged 40 to 50 years. Ninety-one out of hundred (367, 90.8%) participants continued to receive routine care face-to-face during COVID-19. One-third (141, 34.9%) of study participants had good management of the chronic non-communicable diseases care in the middle of pandemic. A total of 167(41.34%) participants thought they were moderately affected changes in healthcare services since the COVID-19 outbreak. Nearly one-third (130, 32.2%) of participants were sometimes affected by medication shortages since the start of COVID-19. Conclusion: this study highlights that most participants continued to receive routine care face-to-face during the COVID-19. About forty-one out of 100 participants perceived that they were moderately affected changes in healthcare services since the outbreak of COVID-19. One-third of participants sometimes perceived that they were affected by medication shortages since the start of COVID-19.

Predictors of Effectiveness and Adherence in a Multimodal Obesity Treatment Program for Children and Adolescents in Routine Care.

Multimodal obesity treatments for children and adolescents generally showed only small to modest treatment effects and high dropout rates. Potential variations by patients' clinical and sociodemographic factors remain, however, largely unclear. For this reason, our study analyzed psychological, physical, and sociodemographic predictors of treatment success and adherence in a multimodal obesity treatment over 12 months. The intent-to-treat sample included n = 361 children and adolescents (ages 3-17 years), of which n = 214 or 59.28% of patients completed treatment. A younger age and, in the sensitivity analysis, additionally a greater eating disorder psychopathology and treatment initiation before COVID-19 pandemic predicted greater BMI-SDS reductions (Body Mass Index-Standard Deviation Score). In contrast, predictors of treatment adherence were not found. The results underline the importance of early treatment of juvenile obesity. Additionally, eating disorder psychopathology includes restrained eating, which implies the ability to self-regulate eating behavior and therefore may have a positive effect on the treatment goal of controlled food intake. Challenges from altered treatment procedures due to the COVID-19 pandemic nonetheless remain.

A Federated and Distributed Data Management Infrastructure to Enable Public Health Surveillance from Intensive Care Unit Data.

The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) monitors the actual number of COVID-19 patients requiring intensive care from aggregated data reported by hospitals in Germany. So far, there is no infrastructure to make use of individual patient-level data from intensive care units for public health surveillance. Adopting concepts and components of the already established AKTIN Emergency Department Data registry, we implemented the prototype of a federated and distributed research infrastructure giving the RKI access to patient-level intensive care data.

Common Infections and Antibiotic Prescribing during the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Primary Care-Based Observational Cohort Study.

Presentation and antibiotic prescribing for common infectious disease episodes decreased substantially during the first COVID-19 pandemic wave in Dutch general practice. We set out to determine the course of these variables during the first pandemic year. We conducted a retrospective observational cohort study using routine health care data from the Julius General Practitioners' Network. All patients registered in the pre-pandemic year (n = 425,129) and/or during the first pandemic year (n = 432,122) were included. Relative risks for the number of infectious disease episodes (respiratory tract/ear, urinary tract, gastrointestinal, and skin), in total and those treated with antibiotics, and proportions of episodes treated with antibiotics (prescription rates) were calculated. Compared to the pre-pandemic year, primary care presentation for common infections remained lower during the full first pandemic year (RR, 0.77; CI, 0.76-0.78), mainly attributed to a sustained decline in respiratory tract/ear and gastrointestinal infection episodes. Presentation for urinary tract and skin infection episodes declined during the first wave, but returned to pre-pandemic levels during the second and start of the third wave. Antibiotic prescription rates were lower during the full first pandemic year (24%) as compared to the pre-pandemic year (28%), mainly attributed to a 10% lower prescription rate for respiratory tract/ear infections; the latter was not accompanied by an increase in complications. The decline in primary care presentation for common infections during the full first COVID-19 pandemic year, together with lower prescription rates for respiratory tract/ear infections, resulted in a substantial reduction in antibiotic prescribing in Dutch primary care.

Analysis of Facilitators and Barriers to the Delivery of Routine Care during the COVID-19 Global Pandemic: A Systematic Review.

The delivery of routine health care during the COVID-19 global pandemic continues to be challenged as public health guidelines and other local/regional/state and other policies are enforced to help prevent the spread of the virus. The objective of this systematic review is to identify the facilitators and barriers affecting the delivery of routine health care services during the pandemic to provide a framework for future research. In total, 32 articles were identified for common themes surrounding facilitators of routine care during COVID-19. Identified constructed in the literature include enhanced education initiatives for parents/patients regarding routine vaccinations, an importance of routine vaccinations as compared to the risk of COVID-19 infection, an enhanced use of telehealth resources (including diagnostic imagery) and identified patient throughput/PPE initiatives. Reviewers identified the following barriers to the delivery of routine care: conservation of medical providers and PPE for non-routine (acute) care delivery needs, specific routine care services incongruent the telehealth care delivery methods, and job-loss/food insecurity. Review results can assist healthcare organizations with process-related challenges related to current and/or future delivery of routine care and support future research initiatives as the global pandemic continues.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Antibiotic Prescribing for Common Infections in The Netherlands: A Primary Care-Based Observational Cohort Study.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic brought dramatic changes in the delivery of primary health care across the world, presumably changing the number of consultations for infectious diseases and antibiotic use. We aimed to assess the impact of the pandemic on infections and antibiotic prescribing in Dutch primary care. All patients included in the routine health care database of the Julius General Practitioners' Network were followed from March through May 2019 (n = 389,708) and March through May 2020 (n = 405,688). We extracted data on consultations for respiratory/ear, urinary tract, gastrointestinal and skin infections using the International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC) codes. These consultations were combined in disease episodes and linked to antibiotic prescriptions. The numbers of infectious disease episodes (total and those treated with antibiotics), complications, and antibiotic prescription rates (i.e., proportion of episodes treated with antibiotics) were calculated and compared between the study periods in 2019 and 2020. Fewer episodes were observed during the pandemic months than in the same months in 2019 for both the four infectious disease entities and complications such as pneumonia, mastoiditis and pyelonephritis. The largest decline was seen for gastrointestinal infections (relative risk (RR), 0.54; confidence interval (CI), 0.51 to 0.58) and skin infections (RR, 0.71; CI, 0.67 to 0.75). The number of episodes treated with antibiotics declined as well, with the largest decrease seen for respiratory/ear infections (RR, 0.54; CI, 0.52 to 0.58). The antibiotic prescription rate for respiratory/ear infections declined from 21% to 13% (difference -8.0% (CI, -8.8 to -7.2)), yet the prescription rates for other infectious disease entities remained similar or increased slightly. The decreases in primary care infectious disease episodes and antibiotic use were most pronounced in weeks 15-19, mid-COVID-19 wave, after an initial peak in respiratory/ear infection presentation in week 11, the first week of lock-down. In conclusion, our findings indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic has had profound effects on the presentation of infectious disease episodes and antibiotic use in primary care in the Netherlands. Consequently, the number of infectious disease episodes treated with antibiotics decreased. We found no evidence of an increase in complications.

Impact of COVID-19 on routine care for chronic diseases: A global survey of views from healthcare professionals.

Routine care for chronic disease is an ongoing major challenge. We aimed to evaluate the global impact of COVID-19 on routine care for chronic diseases. An online survey was posted 31 March to 23 April 2020 targeted at healthcare professionals. 202 from 47 countries responded. Most reported change in routine care to virtual communication. Diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and hypertension were the most impacted conditions due to reduction in access to care. 80% reported the mental health of their patients worsened during COVID-19. It is important routine care continues in spite of the pandemic, to avoid a rise in non-COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality.