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Ares-Blanco S, Guisado-Clavero M, Del Rio LR, Larrondo IG, Fitzgerald L, Murauskienė L, López NP, Perjés Á, Petek D, Petrazzuoli F, Petricek G, Sattler M, Saurek-Aleksandrovska N, Senn O, Seifert B, Serafini A, Sentker T, Ticmane G, Tiili P, Torzsa P, Valtonen K, Vaes B, Vinker S, Adler L, Assenova R, Bakola M, Bayen S, Brutskaya-Stempkovskaya E, Busneag IC, Divjak AĆ, Peña MD, Díaz E, Domeyer PR, Feldmane S, Gjorgjievski D, Gómez-Johansson M, de la Fuente ÁG, Hanževački M, Hoffmann K, Ільков О, Ivanna S, Jandrić-Kočić M, Karathanos VT, Üçüncü EK, Kirkovski A, Knežević S, Korkmaz BÇ, Kostić M, Krztoń-Królewiecka A, Kozlovska L, Nessler K, Gómez-Bravo R, Peña MPA, Lingner H. Primary care indicators for disease burden, monitoring and surveillance of COVID-19 in 31 European countries: Eurodata Study. Eur J Public Health 2024; 34:402-410. [PMID: 38326993 PMCID: PMC10990533 DOI: 10.1093/eurpub/ckad224] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/09/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND During the COVID-19 pandemic, the majority of patients received ambulatory treatment, highlighting the importance of primary health care (PHC). However, there is limited knowledge regarding PHC workload in Europe during this period. The utilization of COVID-19 PHC indicators could facilitate the efficient monitoring and coordination of the pandemic response. The objective of this study is to describe PHC indicators for disease surveillance and monitoring of COVID-19's impact in Europe. METHODS Descriptive, cross-sectional study employing data obtained through a semi-structured ad hoc questionnaire, which was collectively agreed upon by all participants. The study encompasses PHC settings in 31 European countries from March 2020 to August 2021. Key-informants from each country answered the questionnaire. Main outcome: the identification of any indicator used to describe PHC COVID-19 activity. RESULTS Out of the 31 countries surveyed, data on PHC information were obtained from 14. The principal indicators were: total number of cases within PHC (Belarus, Cyprus, Italy, Romania and Spain), number of follow-up cases (Croatia, Cyprus, Finland, Spain and Turkey), GP's COVID-19 tests referrals (Poland), proportion of COVID-19 cases among respiratory illnesses consultations (Norway and France), sick leaves issued by GPs (Romania and Spain) and examination and complementary tests (Cyprus). All COVID-19 cases were attended in PHC in Belarus and Italy. CONCLUSIONS The COVID-19 pandemic exposes a crucial deficiency in preparedness for infectious diseases in European health systems highlighting the inconsistent recording of indicators within PHC organizations. PHC standardized indicators and public data accessibility are urgently needed, conforming the foundation for an effective European-level health services response framework against future pandemics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Ares-Blanco
- Federica Montseny Health Centre, Gerencia Asistencial Atención Primaria, Servicio Madrileño de Salud, Madrid, Spain; Medical Specialties and Public Health, School of Health Sciences, University Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain
| | - Marina Guisado-Clavero
- Investigation Support Multidisciplinary Unit for Primary care and Community North Area of Madrid, Gerencia Asistencial Atención Primaria, Servicio Madrileño de Salud, Madrid, Spain
| | - Lourdes Ramos Del Rio
- Federica Montseny Health Centre, Gerencia Asistencial de Atención Primaria, Servicio Madrileño de Salud, Madrid, Spain
| | - Ileana Gefaell Larrondo
- Federica Montseny Health Centre, Gerencia Asistencial de Atención Primaria, Servicio Madrileño de Salud, Madrid, Spain
| | - Louise Fitzgerald
- Member of Irish College of General Practice (MICGP), Member of Royal College of Physician (MRCSI), Dublin, Ireland
| | - Liubovė Murauskienė
- Department of Public Health, Institute of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania
| | - Naldy Parodi López
- Närhälsan Kungshöjd Health Centre, Gothenburg, Sweden; Department of Pharmacology, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Ábel Perjés
- Department of Family Medicine at the University of Semmelweis, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Davorina Petek
- Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Ferdinando Petrazzuoli
- Department of Clinical Sciences in Malmö, Centre for Primary Health Care Research, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden
| | - Goranka Petricek
- Department of Family Medicine “Andrija Stampar” School of Public Health, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Croatia; Health Centre Zagreb West, Croatia
| | | | | | - Oliver Senn
- Institute of Primary Care, University of Zurich and University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Bohumil Seifert
- Charles University, First Faculty of Medicine, Institute of General Practice, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Alice Serafini
- Azienda Unità Sanitaria Locale di Modena, Laboratorio EduCare, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy
| | - Theresa Sentker
- Center for Public Health and Healthcare, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Gunta Ticmane
- Department of Family Medicine at Riga Stradiņš University, Riga, Latvia; Member of the board of the Rural Family Doctors’ Association of Latvia, Latvia
| | - Paula Tiili
- Communicable Diseases and Infection Control Unit, City of Vantaa, Vantaa. University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Péter Torzsa
- Department of Family Medicine at the University of Semmelweis, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Kirsi Valtonen
- Communicable Diseases and Infection Control Unit, City of Vantaa, Vantaa, Finland
| | - Bert Vaes
- Department of Public Health and Primary Care, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Shlomo Vinker
- Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. WONCA Europe President, Israel
| | - Limor Adler
- Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Radost Assenova
- Department Urology and General Practice, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Plovdiv, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
| | - Maria Bakola
- Research Unit for General Medicine and Primary Health Care, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Science, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece
| | - Sabine Bayen
- Department of General Practice, University of Lille, Lille, France
| | | | | | | | - Maryher Delphin Peña
- Department of Geriatric Medicine, Hôpitaux Robert Schuman, Luxembourg, Luxembourg
| | - Esperanza Díaz
- Pandemic Center, Department of Public Health and Primary Health Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway; Norwegian National Institute of Public Health, Bergen, Norway
| | | | - Sabine Feldmane
- Department of Family Medicine, Rīga Stradins University, Riga, Latvia
| | | | | | | | - Miroslav Hanževački
- Department of Family Medicine “Andrija Stampar” School of Public Health, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Croatia; Health Centre Zagreb West, Croatia
| | - Kathryn Hoffmann
- Department of General Practice and Primary Care, Med. University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Оксана Ільков
- Department of Family Medicine and Outpatient Care, Medical Faculty 2, Uzhhorod National University, Uzhhorod, Ukraine
| | - Shushman Ivanna
- Department of Family Medicine and Outpatient Care, Medical Faculty 2, Uzhhorod National University, Uzhhorod, Ukraine
| | | | - Vasilis Trifon Karathanos
- Laboratory of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Medical Department, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ioannina- Greece; GHS, Larnaca, Cyprus
| | - Erva Kirkoç Üçüncü
- Department of Family Medicine, Prof. Dr Cemil Tascioglu City Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Aleksandar Kirkovski
- Faculty of Medicine, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, North Macedonia
| | | | | | - Milena Kostić
- Health Center “Dr Đorđe Kovačević”, Lazarevac, Belgrade, Serbia
| | | | - Liga Kozlovska
- Department of Family Medicine of Riga Stradins University, Riga, Latvia; President of the Rural Family Doctors' Association of Latvia
| | - Katarzyna Nessler
- Department of Family Medicine UJCM at Uniwersytet Jagielloński - Collegium Medicum, Kraków, Poland
| | - Raquel Gómez-Bravo
- CHNP, Rehaklinik, Ettelbruck, Luxembourg; Research Group Self-Regulation and Health, Institute for Health and Behaviour, Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, Education, and Social Sciences, Luxembourg University, Luxembourg, Luxembourg
| | - María Pilar Astier Peña
- Technical Advisor for Quality and Safety, Territorial Healthcare Quality Unit, Territorial Healthcare Direction of Camp de Tarragona, Healthcare Institut of Catalonia, Health Departament, Generalitat de Catalunya GIBA-IIS-Aragón, Catalunya, Spain; Chair of Patient Safety Working Party of semFYC (Spanish Society for Family and Community Medicine) and Quality and Safety in Family Medicine of WONCA World (Global Family Doctors), Board Member of WONCA World and SECA (Spanish Society for Healthcare Quality), Spain
| | - Heidrun Lingner
- Center for Public Health and Healthcare, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
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