Abstract
BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic led to concerns about disruptions in the follow-up of chronic diseases, including chronic kidney disease (CKD). Here, we assessed the COVID-19 pandemic impact on healthcare use by patients with CKD in France. METHODS: We used the French National Health Data System (SDNS) that contains data on outpatient and inpatient healthcare of the whole French population. Using a validated algorithm, we identified two CKD cohorts based on their healthcare utilization: (i) the 2019 cohort (pandemic-exposed) and (ii) the 2017 cohort (comparator). We followed these cohorts for 2 years and compared consultations (in-person and teleconsultation) with a general practitioner (GP) and a nephrologist and all-cause hospitalizations (excluding COVID-19 as primary diagnosis). We stratified comparisons by age group and sex. RESULTS: We identified 4,866,096 individuals with CKD in 2017 and 5,089,706 in 2019. During the first year of follow-up, 95.2% and 6.4% of patients in the 2017 cohort had at least one consultation with a GP and with a nephrologist, respectively, versus 94% and 6.3% in the 2019 cohort. Teleconsultations compensated for the reduction of in-person GP and nephrologist consultations throughout the lockdown periods in 2020 and 2021 (40.5% of patients in the 2019 cohort had at least one in-person consultation and 52.5% an in-person or tele-consultation with a GP). Hospitalizations ≥ 24 h decreased in 2020 and 2021 (-10%). CONCLUSIONS: In France, outpatient care for CKD was maintained during the 2 years following the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to teleconsultations. The persistently lower inpatient care utilization warrants further investigation.