Association between the decrease in medical visit frequency and chronic disease worsening in the early stages of COVID-19-A longitudinal study

CONCLUSIONS: A decreased frequency of medical visits was observed among one-third of the participants with chronic disease in the early stage of the pandemic, and it reduced by half at follow-up. In the early stages of an emerging infectious disease pandemic, decreased regular hospital/clinic visits can lead to a worsening of chronic diseases. Those who had psychological distress, unemployment, and a history of smoking were vulnerable to a worsening chronic disease.PMID:38569913 | DOI:10.2169/internalmedicine.2697-23

Source: Internal Medicine - April 3, 2024 Category: Internal Medicine Authors: Takeshi Takakubo Yuko Odagiri Masaki Machida Tomoko Takamiya Noritoshi Fukushima Hiroyuki Kikuchi Toshio Hayashi Shiho Amagasa Shigeru Inoue Source Type: research