Trends in prescription days and intervals between physician visits and their impact on glycemic control before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan

Abstract

We assessed trends in glycemic control among individuals with diabetes before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. We used two databases to investigate changes in prescription days and the interval between physician visits and their impact on glycemic control among individuals with diabetes in Japan between 2017 and 2020. The analysis using the JMDC database indicated that prescription days were extended by approximately 20 days in 2020 compared to other years. The analysis using the Japan diabetes comprehensive database project based on an advanced electronic medical record system database revealed that intervals between physician visits were extended by approximately 7 days in 2020 compared to other years and glycemic control did not materially change in 2020. These results suggest that the prescription days increased with the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 in patients with diabetes, but the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on glycemic control appeared to be small.