The COVID-19 crisis and ART activity in France

Résumé 0

Research question; What was the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on ART activity in public and private hospitals in France in 2020? Design: All women who underwent oocyte retrieval in 2020 (study group, n = 40,759) or in 2019 (comparison group, n = 52,403) were selected in French national health insurance databases. Weekly ART activity in 2020 was compared with weekly ART activity in 2019. Results: In 2020, annual ART activity dropped by nearly 30% compared with 2019. Whereas weekly ART activity was at its normal level at the beginning of 2020, it sharply decreased and was almost non-existent during the first French lockdown (March-May 2020) in both public and private hospitals. After the first lockdown, private hospitals returned to their normal activity level within one month. On the contrary, the activity of public hospitals remained well below normal until the summer break, and peaked at 40% of normal activity compared with an expected level of 57%. During the second French lockdown, ART activity was only slightly affected, principally in public hospitals where ART activity was around 48% compared with an expected level of 57%. Conclusions: In countries where intensive care units are principally in public hospitals, greater disruption in public than in private hospitals may have led to an increase in health inequalities for ART activity as for other healthcare.