ArticleCMAJ open
Long-term health care use and diagnosis after hospitalization for COVID-19: a retrospective matched cohort study.
Article in CMAJ open. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Healthcare Resource Utilization (HCRU) and Direct Medical Costs Associated with Long COVID or Post-COVID-19 Conditions: Findings from a Literature Review.Journal of market access & health policy · 2025Review
- Comparison of long-term healthcare use among older adults with disabilities following hospitalization for COVID-19, sepsis, or influenza: a population-based cohort study.Lancet regional health. Americas · 2024Article
- Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundKnowledge pertaining to the health and health care utilization of patients after recovery from acute COVID-19 is limited. We sought to assess the frequency of new diagnoses of disease and health care use after hospitalization with COVID-19.
methodsWe included all patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Alberta between Mar. 5 and Dec. 31, 2020. Additionally, 2 matched controls (SARS-CoV-2 negative) per case were included and followed up until Apr. 30, 2021. New diagnoses and health care use were identified from linked administrative health data. Repeated measures were made for the periods 1-30 days, 31-60 days, 61-90 days, 91-180 days, and 180 and more days from the index date. We used multivariable regression analysis to evaluate the association of COVID-19-related hospitalization with the number of physician visits during follow-up.
resultsThe study sample included 3397 cases and 6658 controls. Within the first 30 days of follow-up, the case group had 37.12% (95% confidence interval [CI] 35.44% to 38.80%) more patients with physician visits, 11.12% (95% CI 9.77% to 12.46%) more patients with emergency department visits and 2.92% (95% CI 2.08% to 3.76%) more patients with hospital admissions than the control group. New diagnoses involving multiple organ systems were more common in the case group. Regression results indicated that recovering from COVID-19-related hospitalization, admission to an intensive care unit, older age, greater number of comorbidities and more prior health care use were associated with increased physician visits.
interpretationPatients recovered from the acute phase of COVID-19 continued to have greater health care use up to 6 months after hospital discharge. Research is required to further explore the effect of post-COVID-19 conditions, pre-existing health conditions and health-seeking behaviours on health care use.
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Registered trials
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