Impact of COVID-19 on Dutch general practitioner prenatal healthcare: an interrupted time-series approach

Research output: Contribution to conferencePosterAcademic

12 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted primary healthcare-seeking behaviour, though the extent to which healthcare-seeking behaviour of pregnant women in general practitioner (GP) care was affected, remains largely unknown. This study aims to assess the impact of the pandemic phases on healthcare-seeking behaviour among these women in the Netherlands, focusing on the complex interplay between epidemic rates, restrictive measures, and individual decisions.
Methods: Using a retrospective cohort design, electronic healthcare records of selected pregnant women from three Dutch GP networks were analysed comparing six pandemic phases (2020-2021) to the pre-pandemic phase (2019). Contact rates were analysed by interrupted time-series (ITS) analyses, type of contact by descriptive statistics, and reasons for patient-GP contact by comparing frequency of International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC) code registrations relevant within (prenatal) GP care.
Results: In total 10,985 pregnant women were included, yielding 39,023 patient-GP contacts. Healthcare consumption varied statistically significantly across pandemic phases, with sharp declines after the pandemic outbreak, succeeded by a return to a significantly higher level of healthcare consumption in the first half of 2021, and then another sharp decline towards the end of the pandemic. The number of physical contacts decreased, while telephone contacts increased. Regarding healthcare-seeking behaviour, a significant increase was observed in the frequency of gestational diabetes and gestational nausea or vomiting during several pandemic phases, whereas the frequency of confirmed pregnancy diagnoses decreased significantly.
Conclusion: These findings underline the profound impact of the different pandemic phases on pregnant women's healthcare-seeking behaviour, with mainly declining trends in healthcare consumption and increases in pregnancy complications. This highlights the need for adequate healthcare policies to maintain access to regular prenatal GP care and prevent potential increases in pregnancy complications, such as gestational diabetes. This can improve maternal and neonatal health outcomes during future pandemics.
Original languageEnglish
Publication statusPublished - 29-May-2024
EventWEON 2024 - Hotel Theater Figi, Zeist, Netherlands
Duration: 29-May-202430-May-2024
https://weon.nl/

Conference

ConferenceWEON 2024
Country/TerritoryNetherlands
CityZeist
Period29/05/202430/05/2024
Internet address

Keywords

  • Pregnant women
  • COVID-19 pandemic
  • Primary Care
  • General practitioner (GP) practices; Healthcare-seeking behaviour; Interrupted time-series analysis
  • Health policy

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Impact of COVID-19 on Dutch general practitioner prenatal healthcare: an interrupted time-series approach'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this