Effects of COVID-19 pandemic on anxiety and depression in primary care: A retrospective cohort study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Population-based surveys indicate that many people experienced increased psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic. We aimed to determine if there was a corresponding increase in patients receiving services for anxiety and depression from their family physicians.

Methods

Electronic medical records from the University of Toronto Practice Based-Research Network (UTOPIAN; N = 322,920 patients) were used to calculate incidence rates for anxiety/depression related visits and antidepressant prescriptions before the COVID-19 pandemic (January 2018-February 2020) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (March-December 2020). Data from the pre-pandemic period were used to predict expected rates during the pandemic period which was compared to the observed rate.

Resul

SUBMITTER: Stephenson E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8818125 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature