COVID-19
Objectives

The main objective of this project is to analyze the impact of the pandemic on the health of the population of Catalonia. Using primary care data from 2015 to 2022, we will specifically analyze the effects on chronic diseases and look in detail at whether the pandemic has affected any specific population group differently. We also want to study whether women's health has been particularly affected, either directly or indirectly. In short, we want to study whether the pandemic has affected the attention of people suffering from diseases different from COVID-19, which we believe is very important if we want to properly plan the recovery from the pandemic. In addition, we want to see what role telemedicine (telephone, Mi Salud) has played in the health system's ability to serve the population. We will analyze millions of data to relate the health indicators of the population to the decline in the "intensity" of health care, addressing the most frequent health problems of the population. We hope, as a result of our work, to be able to draw conclusions about which are the people and diseases that have directly and indirectly suffered the most from the health crisis caused by COVID-19. We will strive to make these reflections the most useful for the people who have the responsibility of making decisions within the Catalan health system and we hope that they can be useful for planning post-pandemic healthcare.

Secondary objectives

  1. Analyze the change in the number and type of visits to primary care (face-to-face, telematic, scheduled, spontaneous) by user categories.

  2. Evaluate the number of healthcare personnel (reference professional or not) who have attended to users in the different waves of the pandemic.

  3. Establish the main groups of users with access difficulties during the pandemic.

  4. Analyze the association between variations in the number of visits produced and the different waves of COVID-19.

  5. Analyze possible changes in the incidence and prevalence of diseases diagnosed in primary care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

  6. Analyze possible changes in the pattern of referrals to hospital care during the pandemic.

  7. Evaluate the evolution of health indicators of the main chronic diseases treated in primary care by subgroups of users before and during the pandemic.

  8. Analyze whether all these changes particularly affect vulnerable groups and institutionalized users.

  9. Analyze whether there are differences between urban and rural centers in terms of the difference in visits and by user characteristics.

  10. Relate the health impact of COVID-19 with the limitations of access to health services, with the aim of helping to calibrate prioritization protocols for future situations with access limitations.

  11. Compare the different types of telemedicine (telephone visits, eConsultation, Videoconferencing) with face-to-face visits to assess whether they have contributed to maintaining the quality of care during the pandemic.

  12. Evaluate the impact of the pandemic on the health of the population, beyond the direct effects of COVID-19, with an intersectional look at the most vulnerable population and with a gender perspective.

  13. Measure the effectiveness of telemedicine and its contribution to maintaining the quality of care in a context of high pressure on health services.