Time trends in newly recorded diagnoses of 19 long term conditions before, during, and after the covid-19 pandemic: population based cohort study in England using OpenSAFELY
Since the covid-19 pandemic, there have been fewer diagnoses than expected for conditions such as depression, asthma, COPD, and osteoporosis, in contrast with a rapid increase in diagnoses of chronic kidney disease since 2022. Unadjusted analyses stratified by ethnicity and socioeconomic status suggest differential patterns of recovery, particularly for individuals with dementia. This study highlights the potential for near real time monitoring of disease epidemiology using routinely collected health data, informing strategies to enhance case detection and investigate inequities in healthcare.
Authors
- Matthew Hotopf (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3980-4466)
- Andrea L. Schaffer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3701-4997)
- Katie Bechman
- Edward Alveyn (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6465-6194)
- Gurjinder Sandhu
- Rouvick Gama (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0292-7582)
- Mark Gibson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2995-760X)
- Andrew Cope (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0470-1827)
- Samir Patel
- Kate dr Bramham
- Sam Norton (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1714-9963)
- Jon Massey
- Peter Inglesby
- Seb C J Bacon
- Brian MacKenna
- Zijing Yang
- Amir Mehrkar
- Maryam A Adas
- Rose Higgins
- Victoria Allen
- Ben Goldacre
Institutions
- King's College London (GB)
- Great Western Hospital (GB)
- University of Oxford (GB)
- King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- BMJ
- Published
- 2026-01-21
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2025-086393
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- COVID-19 Clinical Research Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 65.56
Funders
- Eli Lilly and Company
- Pfizer
- Sanofi
- World Health Organization
- Gilead Sciences
- Biogen
- Celgene
- Laura and John Arnold Foundation
- Wellcome Trust
- UK Research and Innovation
- National Institute for Health and Care Research
- Department of Health and Social Care
- Kidney Research UK
- British Lung Foundation
- Asthma and Lung UK
- University of Oxford
- European Commission
- Swedish Orphan Biovitrum
- H. Lundbeck A/S
- Chugai Pharmaceutical
- Medical Research Council
- NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre
- National Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaboration Oxford and Thames Valley