Exploring Changes in Diagnoses during the COVID-19 Era: Comparative Analysis

Abstract

The healthcare sector is just one of several areas of society that have been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper aims to analyze the changes observed in the medical profession’s approach to diagnosing diseases between the pre-pandemic year of 2019 and the pandemic year of 2020. By examining these shifts, we explore how medical professionals have adapted their treatment strategies, leading to modifications in diagnosis for various diseases. Based on our visualization, shown in Figure 1, we observed that the diagnoses of Obstructive Sleep Apnea and End stage renal disease had consistent distributions in both 2019 and 2020. Also we need to mention, the count value for Obstructive Sleep Apnea was higher in 2020, whereas in 2019, the count value was higher for End stage renal disease, showing their representation in each year. We can conclude that the pandemic has resulted in a marked increase in the occurrence of specific diagnoses compared to the previous year, some of them being acute pharyngitis-sore throat (J029), gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (K219) and pure hypercholesterolemia - unspecified (E7800), as can be seen on Figure 1. A notable variation can be observed when examining the months of November and December in 2020. In these months, the diagnosis Contact with and (suspected) exposure to other viral communicable diseases transitions from the third to the second position, indicating a higher occurrence of COVID-19 in December compared to November. This shift in ranking provides valuable insights into the increased prevalence of this diagnosis during the month of December. Through this analysis, we aim to examine the transformations that have taken place as a result of the pandemic, particularly in terms of the diagnosis of a specific disease, which has undergone notable changes compared to the pre-pandemic period. We highlight several significant changes that have occurred in defining diagnoses, showcasing the variations observed over the course of a year.