1. Reduced incidence of diabetes during the COVID-19 pandemic in Alberta: A time-segmented longitudinal study of Alberta's Tomorrow Project.
- Author
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Ye M, Vena JE, Shen-Tu G, Johnson JA, and Eurich DT
- Subjects
- Female, Humans, Middle Aged, Aged, Male, Cohort Studies, Longitudinal Studies, Incidence, Pandemics prevention & control, Alberta epidemiology, Adenosine Triphosphate, COVID-19 epidemiology, Diabetes Mellitus epidemiology
- Abstract
Aim: To characterize the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on diabetes diagnosis using data from Alberta's Tomorrow Project (ATP), a population-based cohort study of chronic diseases in Alberta, Canada., Materials and Methods: The ATP participants who were free of diabetes on 1 April 2018 were included in the study. A time-segmented regression model was used to compare incidence rates of diabetes before the COVID-19 pandemic, during the first two COVID-19 states of emergency, and in the period when the state of emergency was relaxed, after adjusting for seasonality, sociodemographic factors, socioeconomic status, and lifestyle behaviours., Results: Among 43 705 ATP participants free of diabetes (65.5% females, age 60.4 ± 9.5 years in 2018), the rate of diabetes was 4.75 per 1000 person-year (PY) during the COVID-19 pandemic (up to 31 March 2021), which was 32% lower (95% confidence interval [CI] 21%, 42%; p < 0.001) than pre-pandemic (6.98 per 1000 PY for the period 1 April 2018 to 16 March 2020). In multivariable regression analysis, the first COVID-19 state of emergency (first wave) was associated with an 87.3% (95% CI -98.6%, 13.9%; p = 0.07) reduction in diabetes diagnosis; this decreasing trend was sustained to the second COVID-19 state of emergency and no substantial rebound (increase) was observed when the COVID-19 state of emergency was relaxed., Conclusions: The COVID-19 public health emergencies had a negative impact on diabetes diagnosis in Alberta. The reduction in diabetes diagnosis was likely due to province-wide health service disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Systematic plans to close the post-COVID-19 diagnostic gap are required in diabetes to avoid substantial downstream sequelae of undiagnosed disease., (© 2023 The Authors. Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)
- Published
- 2024
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