Direct and Indirect Effects of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic on Private Healthcare Utilization in South Africa, March 2020-September 2021.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused severe disruptions to healthcare in many areas of the world, but data remain scarce for sub-Saharan Africa.

Methods

We evaluated trends in hospital admissions and outpatient emergency department (ED) and general practitioner (GP) visits to South Africa's largest private healthcare system during 2016-2021. We fit time series models to historical data and, for March 2020-September 2021, quantified changes in encounters relative to baseline.

Results

The nationwide lockdown on 27 March 2020 led to sharp reductions in care-seeking behavior that persisted for 18 months after initial declines. For example, total admissions dropped 59.6% (95% confidence interval [CI], 52.4-66.8) during home confinement and wer

SUBMITTER: Perofsky AC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8807275 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature