Effect of COVID-19 Pandemic Related Healthcare Disruption on Hypertension Control: A Retrospective Analysis of Older Adults With Multiple Chronic Conditions in New York City

BACKGROUND: Disruption of ambulatory healthcare in New York City (NYC) during the COVID-19 pandemic was common, but the impact on the cardiometabolic health of vulnerable patient groups is unknown. Therefore, we estimated the effect of total care disruption (TCD) on blood pressure (BP) control among older NYC residents with hypertension and at least one other chronic condition and examined whether neighborhood poverty moderated this impact. METHODS: From the INSIGHT Clinical Research Network, we identified NYC residents ≥ 50 years of age with hypertension and at least one other chronic condition. TCD was defined as no ambulatory or telehealth visit during the pandemic. We contrasted the change in prevalence of controlled BP (BP < 140/90) before and after the pandemic among those with and without TCD via an inverse probability weighted (IPW) difference-in-difference regression model. RESULTS: Among 212,673 eligible individuals, mean age was 69.5 years (SD: 10.2 years), and 15.1% experienced TCD. BP control declined from 52.4% to 45.9% among those with TCD and from 53.6% to 48.9% among those without TCD. After IPW adjustment, a larger decline in BP control was noted among those with TCD (adjusted difference-in-difference = 1.13 percentage points (95% CI: 0.32–1.94; P-value = 0.0058)). There was no consistent difference in the relationship between TCD and post-pandemic BP control across neighborhood poverty levels. CONCLUSION: COVID-19-related TCD was associated with a modest decline in BP control among older adults with hypertension in NYC; this was not moderated by neighborhood poverty level.