Academic Journal

The use of out-of-hours primary care during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic

التفاصيل البيبلوغرافية
العنوان: The use of out-of-hours primary care during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic
المؤلفون: Lotte Ramerman, Corinne Rijpkema, Nanne Bos, Linda E. Flinterman, Robert A. Verheij
المصدر: BMC Health Services Research, Vol 22, Iss 1, Pp 1-9 (2022)
بيانات النشر: BMC, 2022.
سنة النشر: 2022
المجموعة: LCC:Public aspects of medicine
مصطلحات موضوعية: After-hours care, Primary health care, COVID-19, Health services, Electronic health records, Public aspects of medicine, RA1-1270
الوصف: Abstract Background In the Netherlands, General Practitioners (GP) are usually the first point of contact with a health professional for most health problems. Out-of-hours (OOH) primary care is provided by regional OOH services. Changes in consultation rates at OOH services may be regarded as a warning system for failures elsewhere in the healthcare system. Therefore in this study, we investigated how the COVID-19 pandemic changed the use of primary care OOH services during the first year of the pandemic. Methods Routine electronic health records data were used from 60% of OOH services in the Netherlands, collected by the Nivel Primary Care Database. We compared consultation rates per week (2020) for COVID-19-like symptoms and other health problems (e.g. small traumas, urinary tract infections), for different age groups, the proportion of remote consultations, and different levels of urgency during the pandemic compared to the same period in 2019. Results The number of consultations for COVID-19-like symptoms peaked at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, while consultations for other health problems decreased. These changes in consultation rates differed between age groups. Remote consultations took place more frequently for all health problems, while the proportion of non-urgent health problems increased. Conclusion There were significant changes in the number of consultations and the proportion that were remote for COVID-19-like symptoms and other health problems. Especially care for babies and young children decreased, while the number of consultations for older adults remained stable. The continued use of OOH services by older adults suggests there were unmet care needs elsewhere in our healthcare system.
نوع الوثيقة: article
وصف الملف: electronic resource
اللغة: English
تدمد: 1472-6963
Relation: https://doaj.org/toc/1472-6963
DOI: 10.1186/s12913-022-08096-x
URL الوصول: https://doaj.org/article/e3bb1f99188f48d0b0184f08535bea2f
رقم الانضمام: edsdoj.3bb1f99188f48d0b0184f08535bea2f
قاعدة البيانات: Directory of Open Access Journals
الوصف
تدمد:14726963
DOI:10.1186/s12913-022-08096-x