Table 1.

Change in the Number of Diabetes Care Procedures During the COVID-19 Outbreak

Procedures‡	No. of procedures per week*		Difference between weeks 2–8 and weeks 9–17 of 2020		Adjusted incidence rate ratio†
	Weeks 2–8 of 2020	Weeks 9–17 of 2020	Counts	% change	Estimates	95%CI	p values
HbA1c test	52,392	44,406	− 7986	− 15.2	0.86	0.80, 0.93	< 0.001
Serum creatinine test	143,064	122,806	− 20,257	− 14.2	0.87	0.81, 0.93	< 0.001
Urine protein test	8329	7091	− 1237	− 14.9	0.87	0.82, 0.92	< 0.001
Fundus examination	24,568	21,096	− 3472	− 14.1	0.83	0.76, 0.91	< 0.001
Diabetic foot care service	369	309	− 61	− 16.4	0.85	0.74, 0.97	0.014
Diabetic kidney care service	257	207	− 50	− 19.4	0.83	0.74, 0.94	0.002

CI, confidence interval

*The numbers of procedures were shown as a weekly average over the corresponding weeks

^†A Poisson regression was applied to estimate adjusted incidence rate ratio with week-of-year and year factors adjusted. Heteroscedasticity-robust standard errors were used for inference. p < 0.05 was interpreted as statistically significant (R 3.6.2)

^‡Reimbursement codes for the procedures were as follows: 160010010 (HbA1c test), 160019210 (serum creatinine test), 160000410 and 160004810 (urine protein test), 160081010, 160081130, 160203710, 160203810, 160081550, and 160199310 (fundus examination), 113010010 (diabetic foot care service; foot care and related education provided by physicians and nurses for people with diabetes (PWD) with risks of diabetic gangrene, arteriosclerosis obliterans, or diabetic neuropathy), and 113013610 (diabetic kidney care service; clinical examinations and lifestyle education for PWD with diabetic nephropathy, conducted by physicians, nurses, and nutritionists)