The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on urban-rural outpatient primary care utilisation in Malaysia: a retrospective time series and spatiotemporal analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected healthcare utilisation worldwide, underscoring the importance of monitoring it to indicate whether essential health services were maintained during crises. This study explored how the pandemic affected outpatient department (OPD) utilisation in public primary care facilities in Malaysia by analysing utilisation trends and comparing it across geographical regions, including urban-rural disparities.

Methods

Monthly OPD attendance from 1,053 public primary care health clinics in Malaysia, from January 1, 2019, to June 30, 2021, was analysed. The study duration was divided into four distinct periods: pre-pandemic, pandemic with the first lockdown implementation, pandemic after the first lockdown was lifted, and pandemic wit

SUBMITTER: Mohd Ujang IR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11827223 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature