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Identifying and understanding the care pathway of patients with atrial fibrillation in Brazil and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic: A mixed-methods study

BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a major risk factor for stroke. To enable improvements to AF diagnosis and follow-up care, understanding current patient pathways and barriers to optimal care are essential. We investigated the patient care pathways and their drivers, and the impact of the COV...

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Autores principales: Goulart, Alessandra C., Varella, Ana C., Gooden, Tiffany E., Lip, Gregory Y. H., Jolly, Kate, Thomas, G. Neil, Lotufo, Paulo A., Greenfield, Sheila, Olmos, Rodrigo D., Bensenor, Isabela M., Manaseki-Holland, Semira
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10569511/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37824516
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0292463
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author Goulart, Alessandra C.
Varella, Ana C.
Gooden, Tiffany E.
Lip, Gregory Y. H.
Jolly, Kate
Thomas, G. Neil
Lotufo, Paulo A.
Greenfield, Sheila
Olmos, Rodrigo D.
Bensenor, Isabela M.
Manaseki-Holland, Semira
author_facet Goulart, Alessandra C.
Varella, Ana C.
Gooden, Tiffany E.
Lip, Gregory Y. H.
Jolly, Kate
Thomas, G. Neil
Lotufo, Paulo A.
Greenfield, Sheila
Olmos, Rodrigo D.
Bensenor, Isabela M.
Manaseki-Holland, Semira
author_sort Goulart, Alessandra C.
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a major risk factor for stroke. To enable improvements to AF diagnosis and follow-up care, understanding current patient pathways and barriers to optimal care are essential. We investigated the patient care pathways and their drivers, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patient pathways in a middle-income country setting, Brazil. METHODS: This mixed-methods study in São Paulo, included adults (≥18y) with AF from 13 primary/secondary healthcare facilities. Surveys using baseline, follow-up (administered ≥two months after baseline) and COVID-19 questionnaires (quantitative), and three focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted. Minimum sample size for the quantitative component was 236 and we aimed to reach saturation with at least three FGDs for the qualitative component. Descriptive statistics were used for quantitative data and a content analysis was used for qualitative data to identify themes related to AF diagnosis and follow-up care. RESULTS: 267 participants completed the baseline questionnaire: 25% were diagnosed in primary care, 65% in an emergency or inpatient department. At follow-up (n = 259), 31% visited more than one facility for AF care, and 7% had no follow-up. Intervals between international normalised ratio (INR) tests were increased during the pandemic, and the number of healthcare visits and availability of medication were reduced. Seventeen patients participated in three FGDs and revealed that AF diagnosis often occurred following a medical emergency and patients often delay care-seeking due to misconceptions about AF symptoms. Long waiting times, doctor/patient interactions and health system factors, such as doctor availability and the referral system, influence where participants visited for follow-up care. CONCLUSIONS: Lack of public awareness and underdeveloped primary healthcare lead to delayed diagnosis, which impacts clinical outcomes and excess patient and healthcare system costs. Health system, care-provider, and pandemic factors disrupt timely and effective continuity of care.
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spelling pubmed-105695112023-10-13 Identifying and understanding the care pathway of patients with atrial fibrillation in Brazil and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic: A mixed-methods study Goulart, Alessandra C. Varella, Ana C. Gooden, Tiffany E. Lip, Gregory Y. H. Jolly, Kate Thomas, G. Neil Lotufo, Paulo A. Greenfield, Sheila Olmos, Rodrigo D. Bensenor, Isabela M. Manaseki-Holland, Semira PLoS One Research Article BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a major risk factor for stroke. To enable improvements to AF diagnosis and follow-up care, understanding current patient pathways and barriers to optimal care are essential. We investigated the patient care pathways and their drivers, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patient pathways in a middle-income country setting, Brazil. METHODS: This mixed-methods study in São Paulo, included adults (≥18y) with AF from 13 primary/secondary healthcare facilities. Surveys using baseline, follow-up (administered ≥two months after baseline) and COVID-19 questionnaires (quantitative), and three focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted. Minimum sample size for the quantitative component was 236 and we aimed to reach saturation with at least three FGDs for the qualitative component. Descriptive statistics were used for quantitative data and a content analysis was used for qualitative data to identify themes related to AF diagnosis and follow-up care. RESULTS: 267 participants completed the baseline questionnaire: 25% were diagnosed in primary care, 65% in an emergency or inpatient department. At follow-up (n = 259), 31% visited more than one facility for AF care, and 7% had no follow-up. Intervals between international normalised ratio (INR) tests were increased during the pandemic, and the number of healthcare visits and availability of medication were reduced. Seventeen patients participated in three FGDs and revealed that AF diagnosis often occurred following a medical emergency and patients often delay care-seeking due to misconceptions about AF symptoms. Long waiting times, doctor/patient interactions and health system factors, such as doctor availability and the referral system, influence where participants visited for follow-up care. CONCLUSIONS: Lack of public awareness and underdeveloped primary healthcare lead to delayed diagnosis, which impacts clinical outcomes and excess patient and healthcare system costs. Health system, care-provider, and pandemic factors disrupt timely and effective continuity of care. Public Library of Science 2023-10-12 /pmc/articles/PMC10569511/ /pubmed/37824516 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0292463 Text en © 2023 Goulart et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Goulart, Alessandra C.
Varella, Ana C.
Gooden, Tiffany E.
Lip, Gregory Y. H.
Jolly, Kate
Thomas, G. Neil
Lotufo, Paulo A.
Greenfield, Sheila
Olmos, Rodrigo D.
Bensenor, Isabela M.
Manaseki-Holland, Semira
Identifying and understanding the care pathway of patients with atrial fibrillation in Brazil and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic: A mixed-methods study
title Identifying and understanding the care pathway of patients with atrial fibrillation in Brazil and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic: A mixed-methods study
title_full Identifying and understanding the care pathway of patients with atrial fibrillation in Brazil and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic: A mixed-methods study
title_fullStr Identifying and understanding the care pathway of patients with atrial fibrillation in Brazil and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic: A mixed-methods study
title_full_unstemmed Identifying and understanding the care pathway of patients with atrial fibrillation in Brazil and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic: A mixed-methods study
title_short Identifying and understanding the care pathway of patients with atrial fibrillation in Brazil and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic: A mixed-methods study
title_sort identifying and understanding the care pathway of patients with atrial fibrillation in brazil and the impact of the covid-19 pandemic: a mixed-methods study
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10569511/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37824516
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0292463
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