In May 2020, a research team including Yuko Odagiri, a lecturer in the field of public health at Tokyo Medical University, conducted an Internet survey of 5 Japanese men and women.We analyzed the treatment behavior of 2,400 people who had regular visits to medical institutions before the epidemic of the new coronavirus infection.
In May 2020, the cancellation of the state of emergency began to be considered during the first wave of epidemics of the new coronavirus infection.The research team conducted an Internet survey of 5 men and women between the ages of 20 and 79 living in the Kanto region regarding the status of medical treatment at medical institutions.We asked the subjects to answer about "decrease in frequency of consultations", "out of regular medication", "worsening of chronic illness", "utilization of telephone / online medical care", and other factors related to consultations.We analyzed 2,400 of the surveyed subjects who had regular outpatient visits before the epidemic of the new coronavirus infection and were outpatients with chronic medical illness.
As a result, the percentage of those who "decreased the frequency of consultation" was 37.8%, and "fear of infection at medical institutions", "living in Tokyo", "female", etc. were significantly associated with the decrease in the frequency of consultation. ..On the other hand, the percentage of those who "could not take regular medication" was 6.8%, and the percentage of those who "worse their illness" was 5.6%.
In addition, the percentage of people who used telephone / online medical care was 9.1%.Since the percentage of those who could not take regular medication was smaller than the percentage of those who received less frequent consultations, it is possible that long-term prescriptions were used.
Among the factors related to medical examinations, "fear of infection at medical institutions" was found to be significantly associated with "decreased frequency of medical examinations" and "out of regular medication", and further analysis between factors revealed that the frequency of medical examinations decreased. In addition, it became clear that there were many cases of out of regular medication and worsening of chronic illness.
This study reveals changes in treatment behavior under the epidemic of the new coronavirus, and in order to prevent interruption of hospital visits and worsening of medical conditions, consideration should be given to groups whose treatment behavior is likely to change, especially "infection at medical institutions". It is important to work to eliminate and reduce "fear of fear" and to create an environment where it is easy to continue consultation even under the epidemic of the new coronavirus infection.
Paper information:[Journal of General and Family Medicine] Changes in the medical treatment status of Japanese outpatients during the coronavirusdisease 2019 pandemic
