PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Antoni Sisó-Almirall
AU  - Belchin Kostov
AU  - Encarna Sánchez
AU  - Jaume Benavent-Àreu
AU  - Luis González-de Paz
TI  - Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Primary Health Care Disease Incidence Rates: 2017 to 2020
AID  - 10.1370/afm.2731
DP  - 2021 Sep 24
TA  - The Annals of Family Medicine
PG  - 2731
4099  - http://www.annfammed.org/content/early/2021/09/23/afm.2731.short
4100  - http://www.annfammed.org/content/early/2021/09/23/afm.2731.full
AB  - We assessed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain on new cases of diseases and conditions commonly seen in primary care. In 2020, there were significant reductions from 2017-2019 in the annual incidences of hypertension (40% reduction), hypercholesterolemia (36%), type 2 diabetes (39%), chronic kidney disease (43%), ischemic heart disease (48%), benign prostatic hypertrophy (38%), osteoporosis (40%), hypothyroidism (46%), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (50%), alcohol use disorder (46%), benign colon polyps and tumors (42%), and melanomas (45%). Prioritization of COVID-19 care changed the physician-patient relationship to the detriment of face-to-face scheduled visits for chronic disease detection and monitoring, which fell by almost 41%. To return to prepandemic levels of diagnosis and management of chronic diseases, primary health care services should reorganize and carry out specific actions for groups at higher risk.