ArticleBMJ global health2020
Reduction in healthcare services during the COVID-19 pandemic in China.
Article in BMJ global health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 70 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
70 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Healthcare Utilization among Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Pooled it
- High need, low use: separating multidimensional need from formal healthcare use among older adults in China using CHARLS 2020.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Forecasting monthly hepatitis B cases in China: a nationwide comparative study based on surveillance data.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on growth, nutrition and immune function in infants and toddlers.Public health nutrition · 2026Article
- Policy stringency during the COVID-19 pandemic and healthcare services utilization in China: An interrupted time-series analysis.PLoS medicine · 2026Article
- Impacts of COVID-19 mobility-restricting policies and perceived COVID-19 risks on household unmet medical needs in Nigeria: a difference-in-differences analysis.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Real-world persistence and compliance of denosumab versus alendronate among postmenopausal women with osteoporosis in Asia-Pacific.Journal of bone and mineral metabolism · 2026Article
- Health Shocks and Debt Risk Among Middle-Aged and Elderly Individuals in China: The Mediating Roles of Informal Self-Treatment and Formal Healthcare Utilization.Risk management and healthcare policy · 2026Article
- Current Trends in Computed Tomography Practices in Japan and the Role of Referring Physicians in Radiation Exposure Management.Internal medicine (Tokyo, Japan) · 2025Article
- Physician agency in China: evidence from physicians' responses to financial pressure during the COVID-19 pandemic.Health economics review · 2025Article
- Treatment experiences, preferences, and expectations for cognitive impairments in long COVID among Chinese young and older adults: a constructivist grounded theory study.BMC medicine · 2025Article
- Article
- Impact of the urban atmospheric environment on otolaryngologic disease outpatient visits in Lanzhou, China.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Hemoglobin as a mediator between air pollution and growth outcomes in children under 60 months: the moderating role of nutritional supplementation.BMC public health · 2025Article
- The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on urban-rural outpatient primary care utilisation in Malaysia: a retrospective time series and spatiotemporal analysis.International journal for equity in health · 2025Article
- Household transmission of Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 under conditions of hybrid immunity-a prospective study in Germany.Infection · 2025Article
- A 6-Year Retrospective Study in Surgery Patients with Thyroid Diseases in Mureș County, Romania, Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on outpatient visits for patients with cancer in Iran: an interrupted time series analysis.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2025Article
- Article
- Total hip arthroplasty, associated rehabilitation care and the COVID-19 pandemic in France.Frontiers in health services · 2025Article
10 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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10 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionThe COVID-19 pandemic caused a healthcare crisis in China and continues to wreak havoc across the world. This paper evaluated COVID-19's impact on national and regional healthcare service utilisation and expenditure in China.
methodsUsing a big data approach, we collected data from 300 million bank card transactions to measure individual healthcare expenditure and utilisation in mainland China. Since the outbreak coincided with the 2020 Chinese Spring Festival holiday, a difference-in-difference (DID) method was employed to compare changes in healthcare utilisation before, during and after the Spring Festival in 2020 and 2019. We also tracked healthcare utilisation before, during and after the outbreak.
resultsHealthcare utilisation declined overall, especially during the post-festival period in 2020. Total healthcare expenditure and utilisation declined by 37.8% and 40.8%, respectively, while per capita expenditure increased by 3.3%. In a subgroup analysis, we found that the outbreak had a greater impact on healthcare utilisation in cities at higher risk of COVID-19, with stricter lockdown measures and those located in the western region. The DID results suggest that, compared with low-risk cities, the pandemic induced a 14.8%, 26.4% and 27.5% reduction in total healthcare expenditure in medium-risk and high-risk cities, and in cities located in Hubei province during the post-festival period in 2020 relative to 2019, an 8.6%, 15.9% and 24.4% reduction in utilisation services; and a 7.3% and 18.4% reduction in per capita expenditure in medium-risk and high-risk cities, respectively. By the last week of April 2020, as the outbreak came under control, healthcare utilisation gradually recovered, but only to 79.9%-89.3% of its pre-outbreak levels.
conclusionThe COVID-19 pandemic had a significantly negative effect on healthcare utilisation in China, evident by a dramatic decline in healthcare expenditure. While the utilisation level has gradually increased post-outbreak, it has yet to return to normal levels.
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