[Long COVID: Care and support needs from the perspective of "long-haul" patients and primary care practitioners - a mixed-methods study from Baden-Wuerttemberg]. / Versorgungsbedarfe zu Long-COVID aus Sicht von Betroffenen und Hausärzt*innen eine Mixed-Methods-Studie aus Baden-Württemberg.
Z Evid Fortbild Qual Gesundhwes
; 172: 61-70, 2022 Aug.
Article
em De
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-35717309
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION:
The approaches to cope with the challenges of providing medical care to patients with symptoms of long COVID are multidisciplinary and involve primary care worldwide. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences and ideas for continued development of medical care of long COVID from the patients' (PAT) and primary care practitioners' (PCP) perspective.METHODS:
Between the third and fourth COVID-19 wave in Germany (July to September 2021), a mixed methods study was conducted by inviting patients and PCPs in two neighboring districts (urban and rural) in Baden-Wuerttemberg to a paper-based questionnaire with both closed and open questions. On the part of the PCPs a written, anonymized, complete survey was conducted, on the part of symptomatic COVID long-haulers an anonymized online survey with announcement of the study by multiple recruiting processes. Qualitative content analysis was applied to free text entries. The quantitative results were analyzed mainly descriptively.RESULTS:
The responses of nâ¯=â¯72 PCPs (response rate 12%) and nâ¯=â¯126 PAT showed a heterogeneous assessment regarding the satisfaction with medical care for long COVID as well as the perception of the attitude towards patients and their disease in both groups. Uncertainty and dealing with it played a relevant role in both groups as well. The professional medical knowledge was assessed by 3,1 (self-assessment PCPs) and 3,2 (PAT) on average using a five-point Likert scale (1â¯=â¯not applicable; 5â¯=â¯applicable). The request for a structured overall concept with competent contact points and coordination of medical care for long COVID patients emerged out of the statements of both groups.CONCLUSION:
The results support an interdisciplinary, intersectoral and interprofessional stepped-care concept for long COVID in Germany with PCPs as the first contact persons, integration of specialized contact points and knowledge transfer. Therefore, it appears to be both reasonable and appropriate to establish regional networks with links between regional outpatient medical care structures and the university medical sector.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
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Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
COVID-19
Tipo de estudo:
Qualitative_research
Limite:
Humans
País como assunto:
Europa
Idioma:
De
Ano de publicação:
2022
Tipo de documento:
Article