dc.contributor.author | Ibsen, Tanja Louise | |
dc.contributor.author | Strand, Bjørn Heine | |
dc.contributor.author | Bergh, Sverre | |
dc.contributor.author | Livingston, Gill | |
dc.contributor.author | Lurås, Hilde | |
dc.contributor.author | Mamelund, Svenn-Erik | |
dc.contributor.author | Oude Voshaar, Richard | |
dc.contributor.author | Rokstad, Anne Marie Mork | |
dc.contributor.author | Thingstad, Pernille | |
dc.contributor.author | Gerritsen, Debby L. | |
dc.contributor.author | Selbæk, Geir | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2024-06-19T11:03:47Z | |
dc.date.available | 2024-06-19T11:03:47Z | |
dc.date.created | 2024-03-12T16:32:06Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2024 | |
dc.identifier.citation | BMC Health Services Research. 2024, 24 . | en_US |
dc.identifier.issn | 1472-6963 | |
dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3134705 | |
dc.description.abstract | Background: Older adults and people with dementia were anticipated to be particularly unable to use health and care services during the lockdown period following the COVID-19 pandemic. To better prepare for future pandemics, we aimed to investigate whether the use of health and care services changed during the pandemic and whether those at older ages and/or dementia experienced a higher degree of change than that observed by their counterparts.
Methods: Data from the Norwegian Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT4 70 + , 2017–2019) were linked to two national health registries that have individual-level data on the use of primary and specialist health and care services. A multilevel mixed-effects linear regression model was used to calculate changes in the use of services from 18 months before the lockdown, (12 March 2020) to 18 months after the lockdown.
Results: The study sample included 10,607 participants, 54% were women and 11% had dementia. The mean age was 76 years (SD: 5.7, range: 68–102 years). A decrease in primary health and care service use, except for contact with general practitioners (GPs), was observed during the lockdown period for people with dementia (p < 0.001) and those aged ≥ 80 years without dementia (p = 0.006), compared to the 6-month period before the lockdown. The use of specialist health services decreased during the lockdown period for all groups (p ≤ 0.011), except for those aged < 80 years with dementia. Service use reached levels comparable to pre-pandemic data within one year after the lockdown.
Conclusion: Older adults experienced an immediate reduction in the use of health and care services, other than GP contacts, during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Within primary care services, people with dementia demonstrated a more pronounced reduction than that observed in people without dementia; otherwise, the variations related to age and dementia status were small. Both groups returned to services levels similar to those during the pre-pandemic period within one year after the lockdown. The increase in GP contacts may indicate a need to reallocate resources to primary health services during future pandemics.
Trial registration: The study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, with the identification number NCT 04792086. | en_US |
dc.language.iso | eng | en_US |
dc.publisher | Springer Nature | en_US |
dc.rights | Navngivelse 4.0 Internasjonal | * |
dc.rights.uri | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.no | * |
dc.title | A longitudinal cohort study on the use of health and care services by older adults living at home with/without dementia before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: the HUNT study | en_US |
dc.title.alternative | A longitudinal cohort study on the use of health and care services by older adults living at home with/without dementia before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: the HUNT study | en_US |
dc.type | Journal article | en_US |
dc.type | Peer reviewed | en_US |
dc.description.version | publishedVersion | en_US |
dc.source.volume | 24 | en_US |
dc.source.journal | BMC Health Services Research | en_US |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.1186/s12913-024-10846-y | |
dc.identifier.cristin | 2253877 | |
dc.relation.project | Andre: 22687 | en_US |
dc.source.articlenumber | 485 | en_US |
cristin.ispublished | true | |
cristin.fulltext | original | |
cristin.qualitycode | 2 | |