How COVID-19 has changed the utilization of different health care services in Poland

BackgroundGuaranteeing access to healthcare among the older population is essential to the planning and preparation of health services. We describe the health care visits among the population 50+ across 27+ European countries, the spatio-temporal trends and determinants, and the changes during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsWe used individual panel data from 27 European countries across 10 waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. We analysed the number of healthcare visits (NHV) over time and their correlation with age and chronic conditions using a Bayesian spatio-temporal model.ResultsThe nominal rate of healthcare visits varied among countries from two to five visits per year and increased over time, with a slight convergence across countries. The NHV were higher for women and increased approximately linearly with age. Individuals with chronic conditions had a 20%–60% higher NHV, with the largest difference for individuals with cancer. The COVID-19 epidemic severely affected the NHV, with an estimated reduction from 65% to 95%. During COVID-19, older individuals and those with chronic conditions had a more than proportional reduction in the NHV. After COVID-19, the pattern of NHV mostly returned to pre-pandemic levels, with an over-shooting for people with cancer and a lag for people with cardiovascular diseases.ConclusionThe quick recovery in the NHV for most European countries indicate that access to care stabilised again. Yet, gap in care during COVID-19 was more than proportionate for vulnerable groups, such that these groups require timely action to prevent long-term consequences of missed care.

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Adequate antenatal care service utilizations after the onset of COVID-19 pandemic in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Wondmeneh,

Solomon Tadesse

2024

Front. Public Health

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BackgroundThe world faces great difficulty in continuing to provide essential maternity health care after the onset of COVID-19 pandemic Many women have trouble accessing maternity healthcare due to fear of infection. A decline in the utilization of maternity health services is suggested to worsen adequate antenatal care service utilization. Thus, this study aimed to determine the pooled estimate of adequate antenatal care service utilization after the onset of COVID-19 in Ethiopia.MethodsThe searching of articles was carried out on Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, CINHAL, Google Scholar, African journals online, and the institutional repository of Ethiopian universities. Using a Microsoft Excel standardized spreadsheet, the data were extracted. A random effect model was used to determine a pooled estimate of adequate antenatal care utilization. I2 statistics were used to quantify the amount of heterogeneity. The evidence of publication bias was examined using Egger's regression test and a visual inspection of the funnel plot. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses were also carried out.ResultsFinally, this systematic review and meta-analysis included 11 eligible articles. The overall pooled estimate of adequate antenatal care service utilization after the onset of COVID-19 pandemic in Ethiopia was 46.28% (95% CI: 35.32%−57.26%). There is a substantial amount of heterogeneity between studies (I2 = 99.07%, p < 0.001). Pregnant women who visited antenatal care early were 10.9 times more likely to have adequate antenatal care utilization than those without early visits (AOR = 10.93, 95% CI: 7.2–14.66).ConclusionIn this review, the percentage of women who utilized adequate antenatal care after the onset of COVID-19 pandemic in Ethiopia was less than half. Early antenatal care visit is an important factor to achieve adequate antenatal care service utilizations.Systematic review registration: CRD42023495279.

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How COVID-19 has changed the utilization of different health care services in Poland

Cited by 4 publications

References 53 publications

Confronting the Ongoing Challenges of COVID-19: A Comprehensive Approach for Health Care Systems

Confronting the Ongoing Challenges of COVID-19: A Comprehensive Approach for Health Care Systems

Healthcare visits of the population 50+ in Europe from 2004 to 2022

Adequate antenatal care service utilizations after the onset of COVID-19 pandemic in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

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