Evaluating the Effects of the Corona Pandemic on the Treatment of Chronic Diseases in Estonia
Name
Henrik Lepson
Abstract
The corona pandemic has had a great impact on the availability of the health care services in Estonia and the rest of the world. Patients who suffer from chronic diseases are especially vulnerable to such changes because they need uninterrupted access to the medical services. The purpose of this thesis is to assess through a health data analysis the impact of the corona pandemic on chronic disease care in Estonia during the first year of the corona pandemic. In order to achieve this goal, the thesis focuses on two main questions. First, how the corona pandemic has impacted the chronic patients' access to the medical services. This can be done by looking at the number of visits made by chronic patients. Second, how the first diagnosis numbers of the chronic diseases have been affected, including the number of cancer screenings as they are important for detecting cancer. The results show that the number of visits made by chronic patients has decreased during the corona pandemic, especially visits to the physicians. There has also been a drop in the first diagnosis numbers of the chronic diseases and cancer screenings. The drop in cancer screenings may lead to delayed cancer diagnoses in the future. In conclusion, these findings show that the corona pandemic has had a significant impact on the chronic disease care in Estonia.
Graduation Thesis language
Estonian
Graduation Thesis type
Bachelor - Computer Science
Supervisor(s)
Raivo Kolde
Defence year
2022