Associations between self-reported healthcare disruption due to covid-19 and avoidable hospital admission: evidence from seven linked longitudinal studies for England

Green, M. A., McKee, M., Hamilton, O. K.L. , Shaw, R. J. , Macleod, J., Boyd, A., The LH&W NCS Collaborative, and Katikireddi, S. V. (2023) Associations between self-reported healthcare disruption due to covid-19 and avoidable hospital admission: evidence from seven linked longitudinal studies for England. British Medical Journal, 382, e075133. (doi: 10.1136/bmj-2023-075133) (PMID:37468148) (PMCID:PMC10354595)

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Abstract

Objectives: To examine whether there is an association between people who experienced disrupted access to healthcare during the covid-19 pandemic and risk of an avoidable hospital admission. Design: Observational analysis using evidence from seven linked longitudinal cohort studies for England. Setting: Studies linked to electronic health records from NHS Digital from 1 March 2020 to 25 August 2022. Data were accessed using the UK Longitudinal Linkage Collaboration trusted research environment. Participants: Individual level records for 29 276 people. Main outcome measures: Avoidable hospital admissions defined as emergency hospital admissions for ambulatory care sensitive and emergency urgent care sensitive conditions. Results: 9742 participants (weighted percentage 35%, adjusted for sample structure of longitudinal cohorts) self-reported some form of disrupted access to healthcare during the covid-19 pandemic. People with disrupted access were at increased risk of any (odds ratio 1.80, 95% confidence interval 1.39 to 2.34), acute (2.01, 1.39 to 2.92), and chronic (1.80, 1.31 to 2.48) ambulatory care sensitive hospital admissions. For people who experienced disrupted access to appointments (eg, visiting their doctor or an outpatient department) and procedures (eg, surgery, cancer treatment), positive associations were found with measures of avoidable hospital admissions. Conclusions: Evidence from linked individual level data shows that people whose access to healthcare was disrupted were more likely to have a potentially preventable hospital admission. The findings highlight the need to increase healthcare investment to tackle the short and long term implications of the pandemic, and to protect treatments and procedures during future pandemics.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Katikireddi, Professor Vittal and McKee, Mr Martin and Shaw, Dr Richard and Green, Mr Mark and Hamilton, Dr Olivia
Authors: Green, M. A., McKee, M., Hamilton, O. K.L., Shaw, R. J., Macleod, J., Boyd, A., The LH&W NCS Collaborative, , and Katikireddi, S. V.
College/School:College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > MRC/CSO SPHSU
Journal Name:British Medical Journal
Publisher:BMJ Publishing Group
ISSN:0959-535X
ISSN (Online):0959-8138
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2023 The Authors
First Published:First published in British Medical Journal 382: e075133
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

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Project CodeAward NoProject NamePrincipal InvestigatorFunder's NameFunder RefLead Dept
3048230021Inequalities in healthAlastair LeylandMedical Research Council (MRC)MC_UU_00022/2HW - MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit
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172690Understanding the impacts of welfare policy on health: A novel data linkage studySrinivasa KatikireddiOffice of the Chief Scientific Adviser (CSO)SCAF/15/02SHW - Public Health