What question did this study set out to answer?

To evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on primary care physician visit volumes and the uptake of virtual care across nine countries.

May 1, 2022BMJ OpenOpen Access

Changes in primary care visits arising from the COVID-19 pandemic: an international comparative study by the International Consortium of Primary Care Big Data Researchers (INTRePID)

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To evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on primary care physician visit volumes and the uptake of virtual care across nine countries.
Conducted an international comparative analysis of weekly primary care visit counts across nine INTRePID countries (Australia, Canada, China, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, the UK, and the USA) during 2019 and 2020 (N = 80,889,386 visits).
Calculated rate ratios (RRs) comparing total weekly visit volume and the proportion of visits conducted virtually during the 2020 pandemic period to the corresponding 2019 prepandemic period.
Average weekly visit volume dropped during the pandemic in China, Singapore, South Korea, and the USA, but remained stable in Australia (RR 0.98, 95% CI 0.92–1.05, p=0.59), Canada (RR 0.96, 95% CI 0.89–1.03, p=0.24), Norway (RR 1.01, 95% CI 0.88–1.17, p=0.85), Sweden (RR 0.91, 95% CI 0.79–1.06, p=0.22), and the UK (RR 0.86, 95% CI 0.72–1.03, p=0.11).
Virtual visits increased markedly, accounting for 77.0% of visits in Canada and 41.8% in Australia among countries with minimal prepandemic virtual care, and rising significantly in Norway (RR 8.23, 95% CI 5.30–12.78, p<0.001), the UK (RR 2.36, 95% CI 2.24–2.50, p<0.001), and Sweden (RR 1.33, 95% CI 1.17–1.50, p<0.001).

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Implication

Comparative study shows shifts in primary care visit volumes and rapid expansion of virtual care across nine countries, suggesting telemedicine mitigated reductions in clinical access.

Cite This Study

Tu et al. (2022) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a7ac04a1a7b6c10bc0db391 https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-059130

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Implication

Comparative study shows shifts in primary care visit volumes and rapid expansion of virtual care across nine countries, suggesting telemedicine mitigated reductions in clinical access.

Changes in primary care visits arising from the COVID-19 pandemic: an international comparative study by the International Consortium of Primary Care Big Data Researchers (INTRePID)

Key Points

Discussion

Implication

Cite This Study

Changes in primary care visits arising from the COVID-19 pandemic: an international comparative study by the International Consortium of Primary Care Big Data Researchers (INTRePID)

Key Points

Discussion

Implication

Cite This Study

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