Analysis of change in disease prevalence in the context of the pandemic

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the change in morbidity care in the year of the beginning of the pandemic (2020) compared to the pre-pandemic year (2019). Material and Methods: Quantitative, descriptive, non-experimental - documentary design. Sample: first level health care facilities in the province of Ica. Non-probabilistic sampling.  Technique: documentary analysis of official documents from health facilities. Morbidity care was analyzed considering the ICD-10 classification in one health facility and in the other the months of care and in both cases in the different stages of life considered by MINSA. Inferential analysis: 95% confidence interval, the confidence interval for the difference of proportions and for the measure of association; chi-square, the estimate of the p value (<0.05).  Results: The most important decrease, considering ICD-10, occurred in chapter VII (eye diseases and annexes) with - 81.46 % in relation to the pre-pandemic year. In relation to months, the decrease exceeds values of 80.0 % in the period from April to June 2020. Likewise, the greatest decreases correspond to the life stage: child and adolescent: average values above than 68.0 %. Conclusions: Morbidity care in primary health care facilities in 2020 (beginning of the pandemic), had an average decrease of 63.0% compared to 2019 (pre-pandemic year). The most affected life stages were children and adolescents.  Children - 68.95 %, adolescents - 68.58 %. The trend of decrease started in the month of March 2020 and this was maintained throughout the year.

KEY WORDS: Pre-pandemic, covid -19, morbidities, first level of care.