Access to primary healthcare during lockdown measures for COVID-19 in rural South Africa: a longitudinal cohort study.

ABSTRACT: Objectives Public health interventions designed to interrupt COVID-19 transmission could have deleterious impacts on primary healthcare access. We sought to identify whether implementation of the nationwide lockdown (shelter-in-place) order in South Africa affected ambulatory clinic visitation in rural Kwa-Zulu Natal (KZN). Design Prospective, longitudinal cohort study Setting Data were analyzed from the Africa Health Research Institute Health and Demographic Surveillance System, which includes prospective data capture of clinic visits at eleven primary healthcare clinics in northern KwaZulu-Natal Participants A total of 36,291 individuals made 55,545 clinic visits during the observation period. Exposure of Interest We conducted an interrupted time series analysis with regression discontin

SUBMITTER: Siedner MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7273272 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature