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.

Details

Title
Primary care indicators for disease burden, monitoring and surveillance of COVID-19 in 31 European countries: Eurodata Study
Author
Ares-Blanco, Sara 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Guisado-Clavero, Marina 2 ; Lourdes Ramos Del Rio 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Larrondo, Ileana Gefaell 3 ; Fitzgerald, Louise 4   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Murauskienė, Liubovė 5   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Naldy Parodi López 6   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Perjés, Ábel 7   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Petek, Davorina 8   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Petrazzuoli, Ferdinando 9   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Petricek, Goranka 10   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Sattler, Martin 11 ; Saurek-Aleksandrovska, Natalija 12 ; Senn, Oliver 13   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Seifert, Bohumil 14   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Serafini, Alice 15   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Sentker, Theresa 16   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Ticmane, Gunta 17 ; Tiili, Paula 18   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Torzsa, Péter 7   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Valtonen, Kirsi 19 ; Vaes, Bert 20   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Vinker, Shlomo 21   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Adler, Limor 22   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Assenova, Radost 23   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Bakola, Maria 24   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Bayen, Sabine 25   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Brutskaya-Stempkovskaya, Elena 26 ; Iliana-Carmen Busneag 27 ; Divjak, Asja Ćosić 28 ; Maryher Delphin Peña 29 ; Díaz, Esperanza 30 ; Philippe-Richard Domeyer 31   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Feldmane, Sabine 32 ; Gjorgjievski, Dragan 33 ; Gómez-Johansson, Mila 34 ; Ángel Gónzalez de la Fuente 35   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Hanževački, Miroslav 10 ; Hoffmann, Kathryn 36   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Ільков, Оксана 37   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Shushman Ivanna 37   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Jandrić-Kočić, Marijana 38 ; Karathanos, Vasilis Trifon 39   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Üçüncü, Erva Kirkoç 40 ; Kirkovski, Aleksandar 41   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Knežević, Snežana 42   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Büsra Çimen Korkmaz 43   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Kostić, Milena 44 ; Krztoń-Królewiecka, Anna 45 ; Kozlovska, Liga 46 ; Nessler, Katarzyna 47   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Gómez-Bravo, Raquel 48 ; María Pilar Astier Peña 49   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Lingner, Heidrun 16   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 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 
 Investigation Support Multidisciplinary Unit for Primary care and Community North Area of Madrid, Gerencia Asistencial Atención Primaria, Servicio Madrileño de Salud , Madrid, Spain 
 Federica Montseny Health Centre, Gerencia Asistencial de Atención Primaria, Servicio Madrileño de Salud , Madrid, Spain 
 Member of Irish College of General Practice (MICGP), Member of Royal College of Physician (MRCSI) , Dublin, Ireland 
 Department of Public Health, Institute of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University , Vilnius, Lithuania 
 Närhälsan Kungshöjd Health Centre, Gothenburg, Sweden; Department of Pharmacology, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg , Gothenburg, Sweden 
 Department of Family Medicine at the University of Semmelweis , Budapest, Hungary 
 Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana , Ljubljana, Slovenia 
 Department of Clinical Sciences in Malmö, Centre for Primary Health Care Research, Lund University , Malmö, Sweden 
10  Department of Family Medicine “Andrija Stampar” School of Public Health, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Croatia; Health Centre Zagreb West , Croatia 
11  European Parliament , Luxembourg, Luxembourg 
12  PZU Femilihelt , Skopje, North Macedonia 
13  Institute of Primary Care, University of Zurich and University Hospital Zurich , Zurich, Switzerland 
14  Charles University, First Faculty of Medicine, Institute of General Practice , Prague, Czech Republic 
15  Azienda Unità Sanitaria Locale di Modena, Laboratorio EduCare, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia , Modena, Italy 
16  Center for Public Health and Healthcare, Hannover Medical School , Hannover, Germany 
17  Department of Family Medicine at Riga Stradiņš University, Riga, Latvia; Member of the board of the Rural Family Doctors’ Association of Latvia , Latvia 
18  Communicable Diseases and Infection Control Unit, City of Vantaa, Vantaa. University of Helsinki , Helsinki, Finland 
19  Communicable Diseases and Infection Control Unit, City of Vantaa , Vantaa, Finland 
20  Department of Public Health and Primary Care, KU Leuven , Leuven, Belgium 
21  Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. WONCA Europe President , Israel 
22  Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University , Tel Aviv, Israel 
23  Department Urology and General Practice, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Plovdiv , Plovdiv, Bulgaria 
24  Research Unit for General Medicine and Primary Health Care, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Science, University of Ioannina , Ioannina, Greece 
25  Department of General Practice, University of Lille , Lille, France 
26  General Medicine Department, Belarusian State Medical University , Minsk, Belarus 
27  Kinetic Therapy and Special Motricity, “Spiru Haret” University , Bucharest, Romania 
28  Health Centre Zagreb Centar , Zagreb, Croatia 
29  Department of Geriatric Medicine, Hôpitaux Robert Schuman , Luxembourg, Luxembourg 
30  Pandemic Center, Department of Public Health and Primary Health Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway; Norwegian National Institute of Public Health , Bergen, Norway 
31  School of Social Sciences, Hellenic Open University , Patra, Greece 
32  Department of Family Medicine, Rīga Stradins University , Riga, Latvia 
33  Center for family medicine, Medical faculty Skopje , Skopje, North Macedonia 
34  Närhälsan Sannegården Health Centre , Gothenburg, Sweden 
35  UCL Global Business School for Health, London , UK 
36  Department of General Practice and Primary Care, Med. University of Vienna , Vienna, Austria 
37  Department of Family Medicine and Outpatient Care, Medical Faculty 2, Uzhhorod National University , Uzhhorod, Ukraine 
38  Health center Krupa na Uni, Krupa na Uni,Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina 
39  Laboratory of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Medical Department, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ioannina- Greece; GHS , Larnaca, Cyprus 
40  Department of Family Medicine , Prof. Dr Cemil Tascioglu City Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey 
41  Faculty of Medicine, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University , Skopje, North Macedonia 
42  Health center Kraljevo , Kraljevo, Serbia 
43  Van Gürpınar District Public Hospital , Van Gürpınar, Turkey 
44  Health Center “Dr Đorđe Kovačević ”, Lazarevac, Belgrade, Serbia 
45  Department of Family Medicine, Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski Krakow University , Krakow, Poland 
46  Department of Family Medicine of Riga Stradins University, Riga, Latvia; President of the Rural Family Doctors' Association of Latvia 
47  Department of Family Medicine UJCM at Uniwersytet Jagielloński - Collegium Medicum , Kraków, Poland 
48  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 
49  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 
Pages
402-410
Publication year
2024
Publication date
Apr 2024
Publisher
Oxford University Press
ISSN
11011262
e-ISSN
1464-360X
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
3192271713
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.