Utilisation of primary healthcare services by patients with hypertension before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic in Turku, Finland-are digital services creating disparity?

Abstract read

In one paragraph

Article in Scandinavian journal of public health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Jouni K JohanssonUniversity of Turku, Department of General Practice and The Wellbeing Services County of Southwest Finland, Turku, Finland.ORCID 0000-0001-9704-2140

Päivi KorhonenUniversity of Turku, Department of General Practice and The Wellbeing Services County of Southwest Finland, Turku, Finland.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimsThe objective of the study was to assess differences in the accessibility of general practitioner (GP office visits, telephone contacts and electronic communication for patients with hypertension before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic in primary healthcare.

methodsFrom the primary healthcare register of the city of Turku in Southwestern Finland, subjects with the diagnosis of hypertension were identified. Data of GP office visits, telephone contacts, electronic communication, concomitant cardiometabolic diseases, low density lipoprotein and glomerular filtration rate were gathered from the hypertensive patients. The follow-up period was from 2019 to 2022.

resultsThe number of patients with hypertension decreased between the years 2019 and 2020 and again increased in 2021 to the 2019 level. Electronic communication increased steadily from 2019 to 2022, whereas telephone contacts decreased. A higher number of telephone contacts and higher number of electronic communication were associated with higher number of office visits. Elderly subjects used less electronic communication than younger subjects and the difference grew larger during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

conclusions

Indexed as

COVID-19Healthcare DisparitiesHealth Services AccessibilityHypertensionPatient Acceptance of Health CarePrimary Health CareTelemedicineAdultAgedFemaleFinlandHumansMaleMiddle AgedPandemicsRegistriescardiovascular diseasesEpidemiologyfollow-uphealthcare serviceshypertensionpandemicprimary healthcarequality in healthcareutilisation of healthcare service

Identifiers

PMID41229105

DOI10.1177/14034948251392076

PMCPMC13176469

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