Physician visits and medication prescriptions for major chronic diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan: retrospective cohort study

ObjectivesThere have been concerns that patients with chronic conditions may be avoiding in-person physician visits due to fear of COVID-19, leading to lower quality of care. We aimed to investigate changes in physician visits and medication prescriptions for chronic diseases before and during the COVID-19 pandemic at the population level.DesignRetrospective cohort study.SettingNationwide claims data in Japan, 2018–2020.ParticipantsWorking-age population (aged 18–74 years) who visited physicians and received any prescriptions for major chronic diseases (hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidaemia) before the pandemic.Outcome measuresThe outcomes were the monthly number of physician visits, the monthly proportion of physician visits and the monthly proportion of days covered by prescribed medication (PDC) during the pandemic (April–May 2020, as the first state of emergency over COVID-19 was declared on 7 April, and withdrawn nationally on 25 May).ResultsAmong 10 346 patients who visited physicians for chronic diseases before the pandemic, we found a temporary decline in physician visits (mean number of visits was 1.9 in March vs 1.7 in April; p