OBJECTIVES:

This study aimed to explore the impact of COVID-19 on patients with SSA and the burden of resource utilization in the pre- and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS:

This retrospective observational study included patients diagnosed with SSA between 1^st January 2019 to 31^st December 2020 using ICD-10-CM codes from Optum’s de-identified Clinformatics® Data Mart. In the study duration, distinct patients were identified and further classified by age, gender, and location of service. To determine the influence in pre- and during COVID-19 for each of the stratification variables, a year-wise comparison was done. Chi-square test was performed to check the significance of categorical variables.

RESULTS:

Overall we observed the number of SSA patients increased by 2% (n=266,329) during the pandemic (1^st January 2020 – 31^st December 2020). A significant increase was seen across all age groups (p<.01). In the case of teenagers, SSA was found to have increased by 80% whereas in adults and elderly an 15% and 8% increase was seen respectively during pandemic (p<.01). When stratified by gender, a significant increase was observed only in females (+9% [n=174,647]) where in males (-3% [n=91,573]) decrease was observed during pandemic. In healthcare resources utilization overall, there was an observed 12% increase during pandemic. For inpatients, office, and outpatient, SSA decreased significantly (-4%, -8%, and -1% respectively) during pandemic (p<.01). A significant increase in outpatient and telehealth services was observed (34% and 1,299% respectively) (p<.01).

CONCLUSIONS: An increased exacerbation in SSA was observed during the pandemic with telehealth and outpatient services being impacted the highest. This may be attributed to facing near-death scenarios, and the loss of loved ones amongst other factors. With the increase in cases, health care resource utilization across various settings is pressed. Better treatment and programs may be required to curb this impact and decrease the overall burden.