TY - JOUR
T1 - The effect of the Covid-19 shutdown on glycemic testing and control
AU - Sharma, Anu
AU - Greene, Dina N.
AU - Chambliss, Allison B.
AU - Farnsworth, Christopher W.
AU - French, Deborah
AU - Herman, Daniel S.
AU - Kavsak, Peter A.
AU - Merrill, Anna E.
AU - (Margaret) Lo, Sheng Ying
AU - Lyon, Martha E.
AU - Winston-McPherson, Gabrielle
AU - Pearson, Lauren N.
AU - SoRelle, Jeffrey A.
AU - Waring, Avantika C.
AU - Schmidt, Robert L.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2021/8
Y1 - 2021/8
N2 - Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused a halt to in-person ambulatory care. We evaluated how the reduction in access to care affected HbA1c testing and patient HbA1c levels. Methods: HbA1c data from 11 institutions were extracted to compare testing volume and the percentage of abnormal results between a pre-pandemic period (January-June 2019, period 1) and a portion of the COVID-19 pandemic period (Jan-June 2020, period 2). HbA1c results greater than 6.4% were categorized as abnormal. Results: HbA1C testing volumes decreased in March, April and May by 23, 61 and 40% relative to the corresponding months in 2019. The percentage of abnormal results increased in April, May and June (25, 23, 9%). On average, we found that the frequency of abnormal results increased by 0.31% for every 1% decrease in testing volume (p < 0.0005). Conclusion: HbA1c testing volume for outpatients decreased by up to 70% during the early months of the pandemic. The decrease in testing was associated with an increase in abnormal HbA1c results.
AB - Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused a halt to in-person ambulatory care. We evaluated how the reduction in access to care affected HbA1c testing and patient HbA1c levels. Methods: HbA1c data from 11 institutions were extracted to compare testing volume and the percentage of abnormal results between a pre-pandemic period (January-June 2019, period 1) and a portion of the COVID-19 pandemic period (Jan-June 2020, period 2). HbA1c results greater than 6.4% were categorized as abnormal. Results: HbA1C testing volumes decreased in March, April and May by 23, 61 and 40% relative to the corresponding months in 2019. The percentage of abnormal results increased in April, May and June (25, 23, 9%). On average, we found that the frequency of abnormal results increased by 0.31% for every 1% decrease in testing volume (p < 0.0005). Conclusion: HbA1c testing volume for outpatients decreased by up to 70% during the early months of the pandemic. The decrease in testing was associated with an increase in abnormal HbA1c results.
KW - Covid-19
KW - Glycemic control
KW - HbA1c
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85105299045
U2 - 10.1016/j.cca.2021.04.018
DO - 10.1016/j.cca.2021.04.018
M3 - Article
C2 - 33932408
AN - SCOPUS:85105299045
SN - 0009-8981
VL - 519
SP - 148
EP - 152
JO - Clinica Chimica Acta
JF - Clinica Chimica Acta
ER -