Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38280984›Full record

ArticleBMC primary care2024

A comparison between different patient groups for diabetes management during phases of the COVID-19 pandemic: a retrospective cohort study in Ontario, Canada.

A Senthinathan, K Tu, E Stephenson, B O'Neill, L Lipscombe, C Ji, D A Butt, J Apajee, A Train, N Crampton

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC primary care, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 42% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

A SenthinathanDepartment of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada. arani.senthinathan@utoronto.ca.
K TuDepartment of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
E StephensonDepartment of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
B O'NeillDepartment of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
L LipscombeWomen's College Research Institute, Women's College Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.
C JiDepartment of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
D A ButtDepartment of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
J ApajeeDepartment of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
A TrainDepartment of Family Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
N CramptonDepartment of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
University of Toronto · CAQueen's University · CASt. Michael's Hospital · CAUniversity Health Network · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundWith the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the large uptake in virtual care in primary care in Canada, the care of patients with type 2 diabetes has been greatly affected. This includes decreased in-person visits, laboratory testing and in-person assessments such as blood pressure (BP). No studies have investigated if these changes persisted with pandemic progression, and it is unclear if shifts impacted patient groups uniformly. The purpose of this paper was to examine changes in diabetes care pre, early, and later pandemic across different patient groups.

methodsA repeated cross-sectional design with an open cohort was used to investigate diabetes care in adults with type 2 diabetes for a 6-month interval from March 14 to September 13 over three consecutive years: 2019 (pre-pandemic period), 2020 (early pandemic period), and 2021 (later pandemic period). Data for this study were abstracted from the University of Toronto Practice-Based Research Network (UTOPIAN) Data Safe Haven, a primary care electronic medical records database in Ontario, Canada. Changes in diabetes care, which included primary care total visits, in-person visits, hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) testing, and BP measurements were evaluated across the phases of the pandemic. Difference in diabetes care across patient groups, including age, sex, income quintile, prior HbA1c levels, and prior BP levels, were assessed.

resultsA total of 39,401 adults with type 2 diabetes were included in the study. Compared to the 6-month pre-pandemic period, having any in-person visits decreased significantly early pandemic (OR = 0.079 (0.076-0.082)), with a partial recovery later pandemic (OR = 0.162 (95% CI: 0.157-0.169). Compared to the pre-pandemic period, there was a significant decrease early pandemic for total visits (OR = 0.486 (95% CI: 0.470-0.503)), HbA1c testing (OR = 0.401 (95% CI: 0.389-0.413)), and BP measurement (OR = 0.121 (95% CI: 0.116-0.125)), with partial recovery later pandemic.

conclusionsAll measures of diabetes care were substantially decreased early pandemic, with a partial recovery later pandemic across all patient groups. With the increase in virtual care due to the COVID-19 pandemic, diabetes care has been negatively impacted over 1-year after pandemic onset.

Indexed as

COVID-19Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2AdultCross-Sectional StudiesGlycated HemoglobinHumansOntarioPandemicsRetrospective StudiesGlycated HemoglobinCOVID-19Diabetes careType 2 diabetesVirtual care

Identifiers

PMID38280984
PMCPMC10821561
OpenAlexW4391278828

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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.