COVID-19 and COPD: how it impacted primary healthcare indicators and what can we learn from it
Year: 2024
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic brought challenges and difficulties that impacted the healthcare system, namely the routine management and diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) at primary healthcare (PHC) units. Objectives: To reflect on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on COPD management at PHC. Methods: We analyzed the publicly available COPD indicators, considering monthly data between Dec/2018 and Feb/2020 (pre-pandemic), Mar/2020, and Jun/2021 (pandemic), and Jul/2021 and Sep/2022 (post-general population vaccination against COVID-19). Results: Before the pandemic, there was a growing number of COPD patients in PHC, which reversed after the beginning of the pandemic and remained until the end of 2020. A fast increase was observed during 2021, with a significant decrease in early 2022, coincident with the new pandemic peak. This indicator was stabilizing to values slightly lower than before the COVID-19 pandemic. The eligibility of COPD patients for priority COVID-19 vaccination could have led to an increased COPD codification in PHC. However, the proportion of patients with COPD and FEV1 in the previous three years decreased. The COPD and FEV1 indicators were rising after the last most significant peak of cases in Jan-Feb/2022 but in Sep/2022 were not yet reaching pre-pandemic values. In Sep/2021, 47.1% of PHC patients had a registry of at least one surveillance consultation. Only half of PHC patients (51.3%) had a registry one year later. Conclusions: The analysis of the COPD indicators confirmed the significant impact of COVID-19 on COPD management at PHC. The restrictions of patients’ visits and difficulty in conducting spirometry limited diagnostic opportunities; on the other hand, the pandemic increased population awareness of vaccination and respiratory diseases. Beyond this analysis’s primary objective, these results led us to become aware of the need to better identify, follow, and manage COPD patients.
Authors: Médico de Medicina Geral e Familiar, Clara Pinto Ferreira, Cláudia Vicente, Médico de Medicina Geral e Familiar, Daniel Castro, Médico de Medicina Geral e Familiar, Eurico Silva, Médico de Medicina Geral e Familiar, Guilherme Mendes, Médico de Medicina Geral e Familiar, João Ramires, Médico de Medicina Geral e Familiar, Luís Alves, Médico de Medicina Geral e Familiar, Margarida Cruz, Médico de Medicina Geral e Familiar, Maria João Barbosa, Médico de Medicina Geral e Familiar, Mariana Prudente, Médico de Medicina Geral e Familiar, Nuno Pina, Médico de Medicina Geral e Familiar, Pedro Fonte, Médico de Medicina Geral e Familiar, Rui Oliveira, Médico de Medicina Geral e Familiar
Language: English
Subfield: Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4406148875