Providing context to excess mortality through changes in healthcare use during the COVID-19 pandemic

Significant excess mortality has been reported during the COVID-19 pandemic. A large part can be explained by mortality caused by the virus itself, but there are many other possible causes for deviations in mortality. For example, there has been a decrease in traffic fatalities, but there may have been an increase due to late or undiagnosed diseases. Such patterns have been clouded by changes in overall mortality statistics. Additional data is needed to better explain excess mortality. In this study we offer additional tools to explain excess mortality by looking at changes in healthcare use, also within different groups. Based on health insurance data, we can compare healthcare use in 2020 with expected healthcare use based on previous years. For example, which operations were performed more or less often. Such insights contribute to a better understanding of excess mortality during the pandemic, but also possible future excess mortality due to missed care.