Publications by authors named "Shirmilla Datta"
Article Synopsis
- Opioid use is common in older adults, and the COVID-19 pandemic made it harder for them to get healthcare, especially in Australia.
- Researchers looked at the prescribing of opioids in older people living in care homes before and during the pandemic to see if things changed.
- They found that more opioids were prescribed during 2020 compared to 2019, with a bigger percentage of prescriptions being for higher doses.
The onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2, and the ensuing implementation of response measures directly impacted the delivery of Australian primary care services. Understanding how these measures affected practice activity is important for gauging both their effectiveness and implications for future service planning. During the first 2years of the COVID-19 pandemic, a research project was undertaken to determine the impact of the pandemic on Australian general practice activity as a collaborative undertaking between researchers, general practitioners, data custodians, and five primary health networks from New South Wales and Victoria, Australia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Our earlier analysis during the COVID-19 surges in 2020 showed a reduction in general practitioner (GP) in-person visits to residential aged care facilities (RACFs) and increased use of telehealth. This study assessed how sociodemographic characteristics affected telehealth utilisation.
Methods: This retrospective cohort consists of 27,980 RACF residents aged 65 years and over, identified from general practice electronic health records in Victoria and New South Wales during March 2020-August 2021.