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Research

Impact of COVID-19 on primary care contacts with children and young people in England: longitudinal trends study 2015–2020

Kimberley A Foley, Edward J Maile, Alex Bottle, Francesca K Neale, Russell M Viner, Simon E Kenny, Azeem Majeed, Dougal S Hargreaves and Sonia Saxena
British Journal of General Practice 2022; 72 (720): e464-e471. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2021.0643
Kimberley A Foley
Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London, London.
Roles: Research associate
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  • ORCID record for Kimberley A Foley
Edward J Maile
Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London, London.
Roles: Honorary clinical research fellow
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  • ORCID record for Edward J Maile
Alex Bottle
Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London, London.
Roles: Professor of medical statistics
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Francesca K Neale
Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London, London.
Roles: Honorary clinical research fellow
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  • ORCID record for Francesca K Neale
Russell M Viner
Population, Policy & Practice Research Programme, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health Population Policy and Practice, London.
Roles: Professor
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Simon E Kenny
Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust; professor, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool; national clinical director, NHS England and Improvement, London.
Roles: Paediatric surgeon
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Azeem Majeed
Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London, London.
Roles: Professor of primary care and public health
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Dougal S Hargreaves
Mohn Centre for Children’s Health and Wellbeing, Imperial College London, London.
Roles: Clinical reader
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Sonia Saxena
Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London, London.
Roles: Professor of primary care
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Article Figures & Data

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    Figure 1.

    The number of contacts with GPs in each week from January 2015 to October 2020.

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    Figure 2.

    Number of weekly contacts with GPs by sex. a) Number of face-to-face contacts for each week and b) number of remote contacts for each week.

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    Figure 3.

    Number of weekly face-to-face and remote contacts with GPs by selected respiratory illnesses. a) Respiratory tract infections and b) asthma.

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    Figure 4.

    Number of weekly face-to-face and remote contacts with GPs by selected primary care sensitive conditions. a) Urinary tract infections and b) diabetes.

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    The COVID-19 pandemic response led to health system reorganisation globally, but its impact on children and young people’s (CYP’s) access to primary care is largely unknown. CYP’s health contacts with GPs fell by 41%, equivalent to 2.8 million fewer contacts in England, during the first COVID-19 pandemic lockdown from March to June 2020 compared with the previous 5 years. Face-to-face contacts with GPs fell by 88%, with a corresponding increase in remote contacts. The greatest falls in face-to-face contacts occurred among children aged 1–14 years (>90%). Remote contacts with infants and with young people aged 15–24 years more than doubled, mitigating some of the total falls in these age groups. GP contacts for respiratory illnesses fell 74% during lockdown compared with previous years, whereas there was less of a fall (31%) for contacts for common non-transmissible conditions (urinary tract infections, appendicitis, diabetes, and epilepsy).
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    Table 1.

    Changes in the numbers of contacts with GPs by age group from March 21 2020 to June 5 2020 (week 13 to week 23) compared with the 5-year average during the same time period (week 13 to week 23) in 2015 to 2019

    Age group, yearsTotal number of contacts (2020)Average number of total contacts (2015–2019)Change in total number of contacts with GP, n (%; 95% CI)Change in remote contact with GP, n (%; 95% CI)Change in face-to-face contact with GP, n (%; 95% CI)
    <1142 674201 861−59 187 (−29.3; 24.4 to 34.3)+65 401 (+165.2; 148.4 to 182.2)−124 588 (−76.8; 74.6 to 79.0)
    1–4169 846357 496−187 650 (−52.5; 47.4 to 57.1)+65 169 (+80.1; 64.9 to 99.1)−252 819 (−91.5; 90.5 to 92.4)
    5–9134 025265 913−131 888 (−49.6; 45.3 to 53.8)+56 241 (+94.1; 79.4 to 111.0)−188 128 (−91.2; 90.3 to 92.1)
    10–14111 090229 903−118 813 (−51.7; 46.7 to 56.2)+45 089 (+90.0; 72.4 to 110.2)−163 903 (−91.1; 90.0 to 92.1)
    15–19186 084281 719−95 635 (−33.9; 28.1 to 39.7)+99 518 (+161.9; 141.1 to 183.5)−195 153 (−88.6; 87.3 to 89.9)
    20–24295 113415 982−120 869 (−29.1; 24.3 to 33.8)+155 881 (+155.6; 139.4 to 172.4)−276 749 (−87.6; 86.5 to 88.7)
    Total1 038 8321 752 874−714 042 (−40.7; 35.8 to 45.1)+487 298 (+124.2; 107.6 to 141.3)−1 201 340 (−88.3; 87.2 to 89.4)

Supplementary Data

Supplementary material is not copyedited or typeset, and is published as supplied by the author(s). The author(s) retain(s) responsibility for its accuracy.

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British Journal of General Practice: 72 (720)
British Journal of General Practice
Vol. 72, Issue 720
July 2022
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Impact of COVID-19 on primary care contacts with children and young people in England: longitudinal trends study 2015–2020
Kimberley A Foley, Edward J Maile, Alex Bottle, Francesca K Neale, Russell M Viner, Simon E Kenny, Azeem Majeed, Dougal S Hargreaves, Sonia Saxena
British Journal of General Practice 2022; 72 (720): e464-e471. DOI: 10.3399/BJGP.2021.0643

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Impact of COVID-19 on primary care contacts with children and young people in England: longitudinal trends study 2015–2020
Kimberley A Foley, Edward J Maile, Alex Bottle, Francesca K Neale, Russell M Viner, Simon E Kenny, Azeem Majeed, Dougal S Hargreaves, Sonia Saxena
British Journal of General Practice 2022; 72 (720): e464-e471. DOI: 10.3399/BJGP.2021.0643
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Keywords

  • adolescent
  • child
  • COVID-19
  • general practice
  • primary health care

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