Diabetes mellitus (un)met care in the Czech Republic in the covid-19 pandemic (economic data analyses by Czech health insurance companies from 2016 until 2020)
Abstract
The aim of the paper is to map and explain the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on the (un)met care in diabetes mellitus in the Czech Republic in the period between March and December 2020. The significance of the verification stems from the fact that more than 900 thousand Czech people (8.5% of the population) suffer from diabetes and unmet care may result in inadequate glycemic control, increased morbidity and mortality, and higher incurred costs of outpatient care, emergency room visits, hospitalization and managing complications of diabetes.
The paper analyzes economic data of three Czech health insurance companies from 2016 until 2020, concluding that diabetic care in the period from March to December 2020 was unmet. However, the volume of unmet care was not higher in regions with characteristically worse availability of healthcare.
In terms of health absorption, the volume of diabetes care increased slightly in the summer months, but in the autumn and in the second wave of COVID-19 measures the values dropped to the level of 2016