Area-specific covid-19 effects on health services utilization in the Democratic Republic of the Congo using routine health information system data.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Since March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has shocked health systems worldwide. This analysis investigated the effects of the pandemic on basic health services utilization in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and examined the variability of COVID effects in the capital city Kinshasa, in other urban areas, and in rural areas.

Methods

We estimated time trends models using national health information system data to replicate pre-COVID-19 (i.e., January 2017-February 2020) trajectories of health service utilization, and then used those models to estimate what the levels would have been in the absence of COVID-19 during the pandemic period, starting in March 2020 through March 2021. We classified the difference between the observed and predicted levels as the ef

SUBMITTER: Angeles G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10239053 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature