Contacts with health services for COVID-19-related reasons during the first wave of the pandemic in Portugal: a longitudinal study
Introduction Access to COVID-19-related care during the pandemic deserve attention and study to inform future strategies to deal with similar health emergencies in the future. We aimed to describe access to care for COVID-19-related reasons during the first 9 weeks of the pandemic in Portugal, to qu...
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BMJ Publishing Group
2024-12-01
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| Series: | BMJ Public Health |
| Online Access: | https://bmjpublichealth.bmj.com/content/2/2/e000979.full |
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| author | Henrique Barros Raquel Duarte Raquel Lucas Teresa Leão Sílvia Fraga Milton Severo Elisabete Ramos Susana Silva Ana Isabel Ribeiro Nuno Lunet Joana Araújo Paula Meireles Sofia Correia Carla Lopes Luís Alves Artur Rocha Mónica Granja Daniela Correia Margarida Tavares Ana Cristina Santos Gonçalo Gonçalves Makram Talih Rui Camacho |
| author_facet | Henrique Barros Raquel Duarte Raquel Lucas Teresa Leão Sílvia Fraga Milton Severo Elisabete Ramos Susana Silva Ana Isabel Ribeiro Nuno Lunet Joana Araújo Paula Meireles Sofia Correia Carla Lopes Luís Alves Artur Rocha Mónica Granja Daniela Correia Margarida Tavares Ana Cristina Santos Gonçalo Gonçalves Makram Talih Rui Camacho |
| author_sort | Henrique Barros |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction Access to COVID-19-related care during the pandemic deserve attention and study to inform future strategies to deal with similar health emergencies in the future. We aimed to describe access to care for COVID-19-related reasons during the first 9 weeks of the pandemic in Portugal, to quantify the frequency of remote and in-person contacts with healthcare for COVID-19-related reasons and to assess the association between individual and context characteristics and contacts with health services.Methods We conducted an internet-based open cohort study with a non-probabilistic sample of 12 006 persons aged 16 years or more. One questionnaire was sent daily from 23 March 2020 for 9 weeks.Results General practitioners (GPs) were the main points of contact of patients with health services for COVID-19-related reasons. In our population, the main drivers found for any difference in the probability of contact with health services for COVID-19-related reasons were perceived high-risk contacts, followed by the existence of COVID-19 main symptoms. There were 17% more (0.17, 95% CI 0.15 to 0.18) contacts with health services among participants who reported personal contact with a confirmed case, 7% more (0.07, 95%CI 0.06 to 0.07) contacts if the contact had been with a suspected case and 6% more (0.06, 95%CI 0.05 to 0.07) contacts among participants who reported COVID-19 main symptoms in the previous 24 hours. Sociodemographic and household factors were not associated with major differences in healthcare contacts. The probability of contact with any health service for COVID-19-related reasons was highest at the beginning of the pandemic.Conclusion Most contacts with health services for COVID-19-related reasons during the first wave of the pandemic were with GPs, highlighting the role of first-contact care with these clinicians in Portuguese Primary Care, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sociodemographic and household factors were not associated with major risk differences, suggesting that universal coverage and equity worked in our study sample at this pandemic stage. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9e6dec9e5c7b4f77be1a9bce1f99abd5 |
| institution | Matheson Library |
| issn | 2753-4294 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
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| series | BMJ Public Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-9e6dec9e5c7b4f77be1a9bce1f99abd52025-07-24T05:10:11ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Public Health2753-42942024-12-012210.1136/bmjph-2024-000979Contacts with health services for COVID-19-related reasons during the first wave of the pandemic in Portugal: a longitudinal studyHenrique Barros0Raquel DuarteRaquel Lucas1Teresa LeãoSílvia FragaMilton Severo2Elisabete Ramos3Susana Silva4Ana Isabel Ribeiro5Nuno Lunet6Joana AraújoPaula Meireles7Sofia Correia8Carla LopesLuís Alves9Artur RochaMónica Granja10Daniela Correia11Margarida Tavares12Ana Cristina SantosGonçalo GonçalvesMakram TalihRui Camacho2 Departamento de Ciências da Saúde Pública e Forenses e Educação Médica, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto, Porto, PortugalEPIUnit e Instituto de Saúde Pública, Universidade do Porto, Porto, PortugalEPIUnit e Instituto de Saúde Pública, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal1 EPIUnit- Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal1 EPIUnit- Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto, Porto, PortugalEPIUnit-Institute of Public Health, University of Porto, Porto, PortugalEPIUnit, Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal1 EPI Unit, Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto, Porto, PortugalEPIUnit e Instituto de Saúde Pública, Universidade do Porto, Porto, PortugalEPIUnit e Instituto de Saúde Pública, Universidade do Porto, Porto, PortugalEPIUnit e Instituto de Saúde Pública, Universidade do Porto, Porto, PortugalEPIUnit e Instituto de Saúde Pública, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal4 Paediatrics, Centro Hospitalar Universitário de São João, Porto, PortugalIntroduction Access to COVID-19-related care during the pandemic deserve attention and study to inform future strategies to deal with similar health emergencies in the future. We aimed to describe access to care for COVID-19-related reasons during the first 9 weeks of the pandemic in Portugal, to quantify the frequency of remote and in-person contacts with healthcare for COVID-19-related reasons and to assess the association between individual and context characteristics and contacts with health services.Methods We conducted an internet-based open cohort study with a non-probabilistic sample of 12 006 persons aged 16 years or more. One questionnaire was sent daily from 23 March 2020 for 9 weeks.Results General practitioners (GPs) were the main points of contact of patients with health services for COVID-19-related reasons. In our population, the main drivers found for any difference in the probability of contact with health services for COVID-19-related reasons were perceived high-risk contacts, followed by the existence of COVID-19 main symptoms. There were 17% more (0.17, 95% CI 0.15 to 0.18) contacts with health services among participants who reported personal contact with a confirmed case, 7% more (0.07, 95%CI 0.06 to 0.07) contacts if the contact had been with a suspected case and 6% more (0.06, 95%CI 0.05 to 0.07) contacts among participants who reported COVID-19 main symptoms in the previous 24 hours. Sociodemographic and household factors were not associated with major differences in healthcare contacts. The probability of contact with any health service for COVID-19-related reasons was highest at the beginning of the pandemic.Conclusion Most contacts with health services for COVID-19-related reasons during the first wave of the pandemic were with GPs, highlighting the role of first-contact care with these clinicians in Portuguese Primary Care, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sociodemographic and household factors were not associated with major risk differences, suggesting that universal coverage and equity worked in our study sample at this pandemic stage.https://bmjpublichealth.bmj.com/content/2/2/e000979.full |
| spellingShingle | Henrique Barros Raquel Duarte Raquel Lucas Teresa Leão Sílvia Fraga Milton Severo Elisabete Ramos Susana Silva Ana Isabel Ribeiro Nuno Lunet Joana Araújo Paula Meireles Sofia Correia Carla Lopes Luís Alves Artur Rocha Mónica Granja Daniela Correia Margarida Tavares Ana Cristina Santos Gonçalo Gonçalves Makram Talih Rui Camacho Contacts with health services for COVID-19-related reasons during the first wave of the pandemic in Portugal: a longitudinal study BMJ Public Health |
| title | Contacts with health services for COVID-19-related reasons during the first wave of the pandemic in Portugal: a longitudinal study |
| title_full | Contacts with health services for COVID-19-related reasons during the first wave of the pandemic in Portugal: a longitudinal study |
| title_fullStr | Contacts with health services for COVID-19-related reasons during the first wave of the pandemic in Portugal: a longitudinal study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Contacts with health services for COVID-19-related reasons during the first wave of the pandemic in Portugal: a longitudinal study |
| title_short | Contacts with health services for COVID-19-related reasons during the first wave of the pandemic in Portugal: a longitudinal study |
| title_sort | contacts with health services for covid 19 related reasons during the first wave of the pandemic in portugal a longitudinal study |
| url | https://bmjpublichealth.bmj.com/content/2/2/e000979.full |
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