ArticleJournal of general internal medicine2022
The Ecology of Medical Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan: a Nationwide Survey.
Article in Journal of general internal medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
22 citing papers in PubMed.
- Healthcare-Seeking Behaviors in a Depopulated Rural Area of Shiga Prefecture, Japan in 2025: A Descriptive Study Using the Ecology of Medical Care Model.Journal of general and family medicine · 2026Article
- Medical care cost dynamics during COVID-19 pandemic: financial implications for Japanese health insurance system.Health economics review · 2026Article
- Lingering Effects on the Ecology of Medical Care After the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Nationwide Repeated Cross-Sectional Study in Japan.Journal of general and family medicine · 2025Article
- The effect of Covid-19 pandemic on the primary health care utilization and cost: an interrupted time series analysis.Cost effectiveness and resource allocation : C/E · 2025Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on utilization of mental health services among children and adolescents using an interrupted time series analysis.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- The Ecology of Medical Care in Shanghai: Temporal Trends and International Comparisons.Risk management and healthcare policy · 2025Article
- The Family Doctor in the "COVID-19 Era".Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Associations Between Successful Home Discharge and Posthospitalization Care Planning: Cross-Sectional Ecological Study.JMIR formative research · 2024Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Home Medical Care Utilization in Japan: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis.Journal of general internal medicine · 2024Article
- Article
- Long- and Short-Term Trends in Outpatient Attendance by Speciality in Japan: A Joinpoint Regression Analysis in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Observational
- Cardiovascular Hospitalizations and Hospitalization Costs in Japan During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Circulation reports · 2023Article
- Factors associated with the status of usual source of care during the COVID-19 pandemic: a nationwide survey in Japan.BMC primary care · 2023Article
- Competency lists for urban general practitioners/family physicians using the modified Delphi method.BMC primary care · 2023Article
- Analysis of Japanese consumers' attitudes toward the digital transformation of OTC medicine purchase behavior and eHealth literacy: an online survey for digital experience design.Frontiers in digital health · 2023Article
- Response to Letter to the Editor: Ecology of Medical Care.Journal of general internal medicine · 2022Article
- Hospitalizations for Cardiovascular Diseases During the Early Stage of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan.Circulation reports · 2022Article
- Article
- Changes in home visit utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic: a multicenter cross-sectional web-based survey.BMC research notes · 2022Article
- Pathogens detected from patients with acute respiratory infections negative for SARS-CoV-2, Saitama, Japan, 2020.Western Pacific surveillance and response journal : WPSARArticle
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a profound impact on health care utilization. However, the overall picture of shifts in health care utilization remains unclear.
objectiveWe assessed the ecology of medical care during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan and compared it with the results pre-pandemic. We also investigated the associations of sociodemographic and clinical factors with health care utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic. DESIGN AND
methodsWe conducted a nationwide cross-sectional survey of a representative sample of the general Japanese adult population in May 2021. The main outcomes were health care utilization for health-related events in the last month. We assessed sociodemographic and clinical factors, including age, sex, years of education, annual household income, social isolation, and the number of chronic conditions. KEY
resultsData were analyzed from 1747 respondents. Over-the-counter drug use, physician's office visits, and hospital outpatient clinic visits decreased drastically during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with pre-pandemic levels. The decrease in the use of medical facilities was especially pronounced among the elderly. Sociodemographic and clinical factors were differently associated with health care utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic. Social isolation and years of education were positively associated with over-the-counter drug use, while female sex was associated with increased over-the-counter drug use and physician's office visits. In addition, the number of chronic conditions was associated with increased hospital visits.
conclusionsDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of medical facilities for health-related events decreased drastically, especially among the elderly. A pharmacy is an important source of health care in a population with social isolation. These findings may be useful to researchers and policymakers in rethinking health care systems during and after the pandemic.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.