Observational studyPloS one2021
Impacts of mild COVID-19 on elevated use of primary and specialist health care services: A nationwide register study from Norway.
Observational study in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 40 citations in OpenAlex.
- Systematic review of post-COVID condition in Nordic population-based registry studies.Nature communications · 2025Pooled it
- Change in healthcare utilization before and after COVID-19 using data from 1.5 million individuals.Journal of internal medicine · 2026Article
- Mass Spectrometry-Based Metabolomics Reveals a Salivary Signature for Low-Severity COVID-19.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Exploring the accessibility of primary health care data in Europe's COVID-19 response: developing key indicators for managing future pandemics (Eurodata study).BMC primary care · 2024Article
- Hospital services utilisation and cost before and after COVID-19 hospital treatment: Evidence from Indonesia.PloS one · 2024Article
- Prevalence and predictors of post-COVID-19 symptoms in general practice - a registry-based nationwide study.BMC infectious diseases · 2023Article
- The role of primary care during the pandemic: shared experiences from providers in five European countries.BMC health services research · 2023Article
- Musculoskeletal pain during and after SARS-CoV-2 infection and healthcare utilization: a cross-sectional study.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2023Article
- Third dose mRNA vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 reduces medical complaints seen in primary care: a matched cohort study.BMC medicine · 2023Article
- Prevalence of long COVID complaints in persons with and without COVID-19.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Temporal pattern of humoral immune response in mild cases of COVID-19.World journal of biological chemistry · 2023Article
- Patterns of utilisation of specialist care after SARS-Cov-2 infection: a retrospective cohort study.BMJ open · 2023Article
- Physiotherapy use is increased for up to nine months after receiving respiratory support for COVID-19.BMC health services research · 2022Article
- Post-covid medical complaints following infection with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron vs Delta variants.Nature communications · 2022Article
- Self-reported symptom severity, general health, and impairment in post-acute phases of COVID-19: retrospective cohort study of Swedish public employees.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Post-COVID-19-associated morbidity in children, adolescents, and adults: A matched cohort study including more than 157,000 individuals with COVID-19 in Germany.PLoS medicine · 2022Observational
- Differences in Outpatient Health Care Utilization 12 Months after COVID-19 Infection by Race/Ethnicity and Community Social Vulnerability.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Observational
- Healthcare use in 700 000 children and adolescents for six months after covid-19: before and after register based cohort study.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2022Article
- Management and treatment of long COVID symptoms in general practices: An online-based survey.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- Technical-assistance arrangements in coping with the COVID-19 pandemic from the managers' perspective.Revista latino-americana de enfermagem · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimTo explore the temporal impact of mild COVID-19 on need for primary and specialist health care services.
methodsIn all adults (≥20 years) tested for SARS-CoV-2 in Norway March 1st 2020 to February 1st 2021 (N = 1 401 922), we contrasted the monthly all-cause health care use before and up to 6 months after the test (% relative difference), for patients with a positive test for SARS-CoV-2 (non-hospitalization, i.e. mild COVID-19) and patients with a negative test (no COVID-19).
resultsWe found a substantial short-term elevation in primary care use in all age groups, with men generally having a higher relative increase (men 20-44 years: 522%, 95%CI = 509-535, 45-69 years: 439%, 95%CI = 426-452, ≥70 years: 199%, 95%CI = 180-218) than women (20-44 years: 342, 95%CI = 334-350, 45-69 years = 375, 95%CI = 365-385, ≥70 years: 156%, 95%CI = 141-171) at 1 month following positive test. At 2 months, this sex difference was less pronounced, with a (20-44 years: 21%, 95%CI = 13-29, 45-69 years = 38%, 95%CI = 30-46, ≥70 years: 15%, 95%CI = 3-28) increase in primary care use for men, and a (20-44 years: 30%, 95%CI = 24-36, 45-69 years = 57%, 95%CI = 50-64, ≥70 years: 14%, 95%CI = 4-24) increase for women. At 3 months after test, only women aged 45-70 years still had an increased primary care use (14%, 95%CI = 7-20). The increase was due to respiratory- and general/unspecified conditions. We observed no long-term (4-6 months) elevation in primary care use, and no elevation in specialist care use.
conclusionMild COVID-19 gives an elevated need for primary care that vanishes 2-3 months after positive test. Middle-aged women had the most prolonged increased primary care use.
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Registered trials
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