Describing primary care patterns before and during the COVID-19 pandemic across Canada: a quasi-experimental pre–post design cohort study using national practice-based research network data

Objective The objective was to analyse how the pandemic affected primary care access and comprehensiveness in chronic disease management by comparing primary care patterns before and during the early COVID-19 pandemic. Design We conducted a quasi-experimental pre–post design cohort study and reported indicators for the 21 months before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Setting We used electronic medical record data from primary care clinics enrolled in the Canadian Primary Care Sentinel Surveillance Network from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2021. Population The study population included patients (n=919 928) aged 18 years or older with at least one primary care contact from 12 March 2018 to 12 March 2020, in Canada. Outcome measures The study indicators included three indicators measuring access to primary care (encounters, blood pressure measurements and lab tests) and three for comprehensiveness (diagnoses, non-COVID-19 vaccines administered and referrals). Results 67.3% of the cohort was aged ≥40 years, 56.4% were female and 53.5% were from Ontario, Canada. Fewer patients received an encounter during the pandemic (91.5% to 81.5%), while the median (IQR) number of encounters remained the same (5 (2–1)) for those with access. Fewer patients received a blood pressure measurement (47.9% to 31.8%), and patients received fewer measurements during the pandemic (2 (1–4) to 1 (0–2)). Conclusions Encounters with primary care remained consistent during the pandemic, but in-person care, such as lab tests and blood pressure measurements, decreased. In-person care indicators followed temporally to national COVID-19 case counts during the pandemic.