ABSTRACT
Background: Since the start of the pandemic, healthcare resources have been prioritized for covid-19 care. Aim(s): To describe the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the care of patients with asthma and COPD in Sweden. Method(s): Within the Swedish National Airway Register (SNAR), healthcare data on patients with asthma and COPD has been registered since 2013 in primary and secondary care. The variables included in SNAR are harmonized with guidelines which gives the opportunity to identify inequalities and sub-optimal care of patients with obstructive lung diseases. Result(s): The cumulative number of unique patients with asthma and COPD in SNAR were in 2019 n=277467, 2020 n=310436 and 2021 n=334639. Since the initiation of SNAR, annual registrations of visits, spirometries and other follow-up test have increased until the start of the covid-19 pandemic. Compared with 2019, total number of registrations decreased with 21% in 2020, and 41% in 2021 (Fig 1), while registrations of new patients decreased with 31% in 2020, and 50% in 2021, similarly in both asthma and COPD. The numbers of spirometries, available data on Asthma Control Test, and COPD Assessment Test decreased with 53%, 40% and 46% respectively, in 2021 compared with in 2019. Conclusion(s): The reduced number of patient registrations, spirometries, and the use of symptom questionnaires shows that diagnosis and the care of patients with asthma and COPD have been highly affected by the pandemic.