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COVI-Prim Longitudinal Survey: Experiences of Primary Care Physicians During the Early Phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic

BACKGROUND: General practitioners (GPs) are the mainstay of primary care and play a critical role in pandemics. During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, this international study aimed to explore changes in the workload of general practitioners, as well as their interactions with patients and...

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Autores principales: Schaffler-Schaden, Dagmar, Mergenthal, Karola, Avian, Alexander, Huter, Sebastian, Spary-Kainz, Ulrike, Bachler, Herbert, Flamm, Maria, Siebenhofer, Andrea
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8898947/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35265636
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2022.761283
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author Schaffler-Schaden, Dagmar
Mergenthal, Karola
Avian, Alexander
Huter, Sebastian
Spary-Kainz, Ulrike
Bachler, Herbert
Flamm, Maria
Siebenhofer, Andrea
author_facet Schaffler-Schaden, Dagmar
Mergenthal, Karola
Avian, Alexander
Huter, Sebastian
Spary-Kainz, Ulrike
Bachler, Herbert
Flamm, Maria
Siebenhofer, Andrea
author_sort Schaffler-Schaden, Dagmar
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: General practitioners (GPs) are the mainstay of primary care and play a critical role in pandemics. During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, this international study aimed to explore changes in the workload of general practitioners, as well as their interactions with patients and colleagues, and their self-confidence and concerns. METHODS: An online survey was conducted among GPs in Austria and Germany. Participants were asked to answer a basic questionnaire and participate in a subsequent longitudinal survey containing closed and open-ended items. All data were pseudonymized. RESULTS: Overall, 723 general practitioners from Austria and Germany took part in the longitudinal survey over a period of 12 weeks (April 3–July 2, 2020). The majority of GPs had less direct contact with patients at the beginning of the survey (96 vs. 49% at the end of the study period). At first, doctors were mainly concerned with pandemic-related issues and had to care for the patients of GP colleagues that were in quarantine, which meant they had less time for routine work such as screenings and treating chronic diseases. Over the survey period, GPs' self-confidence increased and their concerns about income loss decreased. CONCLUSIONS: Following a difficult initial phase when protective equipment and information were lacking, physicians in primary care adapted quickly to new situations. Experience with telemedicine should help them face future challenges and may help prevent a decline in the delivery of routine health care and care for chronically ill patients. REGISTRATION: Trial registration at the German Clinical Trials Register: DRKS00021231.
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spelling pubmed-88989472022-03-08 COVI-Prim Longitudinal Survey: Experiences of Primary Care Physicians During the Early Phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic Schaffler-Schaden, Dagmar Mergenthal, Karola Avian, Alexander Huter, Sebastian Spary-Kainz, Ulrike Bachler, Herbert Flamm, Maria Siebenhofer, Andrea Front Med (Lausanne) Medicine BACKGROUND: General practitioners (GPs) are the mainstay of primary care and play a critical role in pandemics. During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, this international study aimed to explore changes in the workload of general practitioners, as well as their interactions with patients and colleagues, and their self-confidence and concerns. METHODS: An online survey was conducted among GPs in Austria and Germany. Participants were asked to answer a basic questionnaire and participate in a subsequent longitudinal survey containing closed and open-ended items. All data were pseudonymized. RESULTS: Overall, 723 general practitioners from Austria and Germany took part in the longitudinal survey over a period of 12 weeks (April 3–July 2, 2020). The majority of GPs had less direct contact with patients at the beginning of the survey (96 vs. 49% at the end of the study period). At first, doctors were mainly concerned with pandemic-related issues and had to care for the patients of GP colleagues that were in quarantine, which meant they had less time for routine work such as screenings and treating chronic diseases. Over the survey period, GPs' self-confidence increased and their concerns about income loss decreased. CONCLUSIONS: Following a difficult initial phase when protective equipment and information were lacking, physicians in primary care adapted quickly to new situations. Experience with telemedicine should help them face future challenges and may help prevent a decline in the delivery of routine health care and care for chronically ill patients. REGISTRATION: Trial registration at the German Clinical Trials Register: DRKS00021231. Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-02-21 /pmc/articles/PMC8898947/ /pubmed/35265636 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2022.761283 Text en Copyright © 2022 Schaffler-Schaden, Mergenthal, Avian, Huter, Spary-Kainz, Bachler, Flamm and Siebenhofer. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Medicine
Schaffler-Schaden, Dagmar
Mergenthal, Karola
Avian, Alexander
Huter, Sebastian
Spary-Kainz, Ulrike
Bachler, Herbert
Flamm, Maria
Siebenhofer, Andrea
COVI-Prim Longitudinal Survey: Experiences of Primary Care Physicians During the Early Phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic
title COVI-Prim Longitudinal Survey: Experiences of Primary Care Physicians During the Early Phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_full COVI-Prim Longitudinal Survey: Experiences of Primary Care Physicians During the Early Phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_fullStr COVI-Prim Longitudinal Survey: Experiences of Primary Care Physicians During the Early Phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_full_unstemmed COVI-Prim Longitudinal Survey: Experiences of Primary Care Physicians During the Early Phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_short COVI-Prim Longitudinal Survey: Experiences of Primary Care Physicians During the Early Phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_sort covi-prim longitudinal survey: experiences of primary care physicians during the early phase of the covid-19 pandemic
topic Medicine
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8898947/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35265636
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2022.761283
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