Introduction & Objective: During the COVID-19 pandemic, health care utilization sharply declined, raising concerns about the impact on health outcomes. This study examined changes in diabetes-related acute complications (ACs) over the initial 3 years of the pandemic. ACs require immediate medical attention and may be caused by delaying or canceling essential diabetes care.
Methods: Using Medicare fee-for-service claims, we identified persons with diabetes (≥ 67 years old) and ACs with International Classification of Diseases diagnosis codes. Age- and sex-adjusted monthly AC prevalence, per 1,000 people, were estimated in total and by setting (inpatient and outpatient). We compared data during the pandemic months (03/2020-02/2023) and the corresponding pre-pandemic months (03/2019-02/2020).
Results: Total AC prevalence decreased by 14-30% in the initial 3 months of the pandemic (03/2020-05/2020) and remained 3-15% lower than pre-pandemic levels thereafter. Outpatient AC prevalence mirrored the overall trend. Inpatient AC prevalence had a larger reduction, declining by 14-33% initially and sustaining a 4-22% reduction subsequently.
Conclusion: The findings suggest a decrease in diabetes-related AC prevalence among Medicare beneficiaries during the pandemic. Further analyses may be needed to explore the underlying reasons behind these observed changes.
X. Zhou: None. L.J. Andes: None. D.B. Rolka: None.
