scholarly journals Impact of COVID-19 on the diagnoses, HbA1c monitoring and mortality in people with type 2 diabetes: a UK-wide cohort study involving 13 million people in primary care

Author(s):  
Matthew J. Carr ◽  
Alison K. Wright ◽  
Lalantha Leelarathna ◽  
Hood Thabit ◽  
Nicola Milne ◽  
...  

SUMMARYBackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has already disproportionately impacted people with diabetes. Timely diagnosis and appropriate monitoring in people with type 2 diabetes (T2D) are necessary to reduce the risk of long-term complications.MethodsWe constructed a cohort of 23M patients using electronic health records from 1709 UK general practices registered with the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD), including 13M patients followed between March and July 2020. We compared trends in diagnoses, monitoring and mortality in T2D, before and after the first COVID-19 peak, using regression models and 10-year historical data. We extrapolated the number of missed or delayed diagnoses using UK Office for National Statistics data.FindingsIn England, rates of new T2D diagnoses were reduced by 70% (95% CI 68%-71%) in April 2020, with similar reductions in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Between March and July, we estimated that there were more than 45,000 missed or delayed T2D diagnoses across the UK. In April, rates of HbA1c testing in T2D were greatly reduced in England (reduction: 77% (95% CI 76%-78%)) with more marked reductions in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales (reduction: 84% (83-84%)). Reduced rates of diagnosing and HbA1c monitoring were particularly evident in older people, in males, and in those from deprived areas. Mortality rates in T2D in England were more than 2-fold higher (110%) in April compared to prior trends, but were only 66% higher in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.InterpretationAs engagement with the NHS increases, healthcare services will need to manage the backlog and the expected increase in T2D severity due to delayed diagnoses and reduced monitoring. Older people, men, and those from deprived backgrounds with T2D may be groups to target for early intervention.FundingNational Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Greater Manchester Patient Safety Translational Research Centre

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew J. Carr ◽  
Alison K. Wright ◽  
Lalantha Leelarathna ◽  
Hood Thabit ◽  
Nicola Milne ◽  
...  

AbstractOBJECTIVETo compare rates of performing NICE-recommended health checks and prescribing in people with type 2 diabetes (T2D), before and after the first COVID-19 peak in March 2020, and to assess whether trends varied by age, sex and deprivation.METHODSWe constructed a cohort of 618,161 people with T2D followed between March and December 2020 from 1744 UK general practices registered with the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD; Aurum and GOLD databases). We focused on the following six health checks and prescribing: HbA1c, serum creatinine, cholesterol, urinary albumin excretion, blood pressure and BMI assessment, comparing trends using regression models and 10-year historical data.RESULTSIn April 2020, in English practices, rates of performing health checks were reduced by 76-88% when compared to 10-year historical trends, with older people from deprived areas experiencing the greatest reductions. Between May and December 2020, the reduced rates recovered gradually but overall remained 28% and 47% lower compared to historical trends, with similar findings in other UK nations. In England, rates of prescribing of new medication fell during April with reductions varying from 10% (4-16%) for antiplatelet agents to 60% (58-62%) for antidiabetic medications. Overall, between March and December 2020, the overall rate of prescribing new diabetes medications was reduced by 19% (15-22%) and new antihypertensive medication by 22% (18-26%). Similar trends were observed in other UK nations, except for a reduction in new lipid-lowering therapy prescribing March to December 2020 (reduction: 16% (10-21%)).CONCLUSIONSOver the coming months, healthcare services will need to manage this backlog of testing and prescribing. Effective communications should ensure that patients remain engaged with diabetes services, monitoring and opportunities for prescribing, and make use of home monitoring and remote consultations.


2021 ◽  
pp. bmjqs-2021-013613
Author(s):  
Matthew J Carr ◽  
Alison K Wright ◽  
Lalantha Leelarathna ◽  
Hood Thabit ◽  
Nicola Milne ◽  
...  

ObjectiveTo compare rates of performing National Institute for Health and Care Excellence-recommended health checks and prescribing in people with type 2 diabetes (T2D), before and after the first COVID-19 peak in March 2020, and to assess whether trends varied by age, sex, ethnicity and deprivation.MethodsWe studied 618 161 people with T2D followed between March and December 2020 from 1744 UK general practices registered with the Clinical Practice Research Datalink. We focused on six health checks: haemoglobin A1c, serum creatinine, cholesterol, urinary albumin excretion, blood pressure and body mass index assessment. Regression models compared observed rates in April 2020 and between March and December 2020 with trend-adjusted expected rates derived from 10-year historical data.ResultsIn April 2020, in English practices, rates of performing health checks were reduced by 76%–88% when compared with 10-year historical trends, with older people from deprived areas experiencing the greatest reductions. Between May and December 2020, the reduced rates recovered gradually but overall remained 28%–47% lower, with similar findings in other UK nations. Extrapolated to the UK population, there were ~7.4 million fewer care processes undertaken March–December 2020. In England, rates for new medication fell during April with reductions varying from 10% (95% CI: 4% to 16%) for antiplatelet agents to 60% (95% CI: 58% to 62%) for antidiabetic medications. Overall, between March and December 2020, the rate of prescribing new diabetes medications fell by 19% (95% CI: 15% to 22%) and new antihypertensive medication prescribing fell by 22% (95% CI: 18% to 26%), but prescribing of new lipid-lowering or antiplatelet therapy was unchanged. Similar trends were observed across the UK, except for a reduction in new lipid-lowering therapy prescribing in the other UK nations (reduction: 16% (95% CI: 10% to 21%)). Extrapolated to the UK population, between March and December 2020, there were ~31 800 fewer people with T2D prescribed a new type of diabetes medication and ~14 600 fewer prescribed a new type of antihypertensive medication.ConclusionsOver the coming months, healthcare services will need to manage this backlog of testing and prescribing. We recommend effective communications to ensure patient engagement with diabetes services, monitoring and opportunities for prescribing, and when appropriate use of home monitoring, remote consultations and other innovations in care.


2019 ◽  
Vol 69 (suppl 1) ◽  
pp. bjgp19X703193
Author(s):  
Rita Patel ◽  
Martha Elwenspoek ◽  
Jessica Watson ◽  
Ed Mann ◽  
Katharine Alsop ◽  
...  

BackgroundRates of pathology testing are rising in the UK, with significant geographical variability. Around 50% of overall GP laboratory testing represents monitoring for chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and chronic kidney disease (CKD). Overuse of tests for monitoring chronic conditions may be a potential source of harm; causing patient anxiety, downstream tests/referrals, overdiagnosis, increase GP workload and increase health service costs. On the other hand, failure to test may lead to missed diagnoses, complications, patient harm and litigation.AimThis study aims to use an open cohort to examine current variation in the use of tests for individuals with type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and CKD>2 across the UK.MethodClinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) data will be used to consider what tests have been ordered for people with these conditions and look at variation over time, and by region, age, sex, ethnicity, and socioeconomic position using age–sex-standardised utilisation rates, descriptive statistics, and multilevel Poisson regression.ResultsAn estimated 1.2 million patients within the CPRD database have previously been diagnosed with any of the chronic conditions with over 11 million tests. Some 1 029 496 patients have hypertension, 344 613 with diabetes, and 271 897 with CKD>2, with much overlap. The results from this study will help to find what tests are currently used among patients with these conditions and to quantify variation in testing.ConclusionThis work will be used to inform the development of testing algorithms for patients with these conditions in primary care.


BMJ Open ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (10) ◽  
pp. e017989 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren R Rodgers ◽  
Michael N Weedon ◽  
William E Henley ◽  
Andrew T Hattersley ◽  
Beverley M Shields

PurposeThis is a retrospective cohort study using observational data from anonymised primary care records. We identify and extract all patients with type 2 diabetes and associated clinical data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) to inform models of disease progression and stratification of treatment.ParticipantsData were extracted from CPRD on 8 August 2016. The initial data set contained all patients (n=313 485) in the database who had received a type 2 diabetes medication. Criteria were applied to identify and exclude those with type 1 diabetes, polycystic ovarian syndrome or other forms of diabetes (n=40 204), and for data quality control (n=12). We identified 251 338 patients for inclusion in future analyses of diabetes progression and treatment response.Findings to dateFor 6-month response to treatment, measured by change in glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), we have 91 765 patients with 119 785 treatment response episodes. The greatest impact on reduction of HbA1c occurs with first-line and second-line treatments, metformin and sulfonylurea. Patients moving to third-line treatments tend to have greater weights and higher body mass index. We have investigated the impact of non-adherence to commonly used glucose-lowering medications on HbA1c. For baseline-adjusted HbA1c change over 1 year, non-adherent patients had lower HbA1c reductions than adherent patients, with mean and 95% CI of −4.4 (−4.7 to −4.0) mmol/mol (−0.40 (−0.43 to −0.37) %).Future plansFindings from studies using these data will help inform future treatment plans and guidelines. Additional data are added with updates from CPRD. This will increase the numbers of patients on newer medications and add more data on those already receiving treatment. There are several ongoing studies investigating different hypotheses regarding differential response to treatment and progression of diabetes. For side effects, links to Hospital Episode Statistics data, where severe events such as hypoglycaemia will be recorded, will also be explored.


BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. e034024
Author(s):  
Lorna Katharine Fraser ◽  
Fliss E M Murtagh ◽  
Trevor Sheldon ◽  
Simon Gilbody ◽  
Catherine Hewitt

IntroductionThere are now nearly 50 000 children with a life-limiting or life-threatening condition in the UK. These include conditions where there is no reasonable hope of cure and from which they will die, as well as conditions for which curative treatment may be feasible but can fail, for example, cancer or heart failure. Having a child with a life-limiting condition involves being a coordinator and provider of healthcare in addition to the responsibilities and pressures of parenting a child who is expected to die young. This adversely affects the health and well-being of these mothers and affects their ability to care for their child, but the extent of the impact is poorly understood.This study aims to quantify the incidence and nature of mental and physical morbidity in mothers of children with a life-limiting condition, their healthcare use and to assess whether there is a relationship between the health of the mother and the child’s condition.Methods and analysisA comparative cohort study using data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink and linked hospital data will include three groups of children and their mothers (those with a life-limiting condition, those with a chronic condition and those with no long-term health condition total=20 000 mother–child dyads). Incidence rates and incidence rate ratios will be used to quantify and compare the outcomes between groups with multivariable regression modelling used to assess the relationship between the child’s disease trajectory and mother’s health.Ethics and disseminationThis study protocol has approval from the Independent Scientific Advisory Committee for the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency Database Research. The results of this study will be reported according to the STROBE and RECORD guidelines. There will also be a lay summary for parents which will be available to download from the Martin House Research Centre website (www.york.ac.uk/mhrc).


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