Indicators to Monitor Primary Care Activity During the Covid-19 Pandemic in 27 European Countries: Eurodata Study

Sara Ares-Blanco, Marina Guisado-Clavero, Lourdes Ramos Del Río, Ileana Gefaell, Louise Fitzgerald, Heidrun Lingner, Liubovė Murauskienė, Naldy Parodi López, Ábel Perjés, Davorina Petek, Ferdinando Petrazzuoli, Goranka Petricek, Martin Sattler, Natalija Saurek-Aleksandrovska, Bohumil Seifert, Alice Serafini, Theresa Sentker, Gunta Ticmane, Paula Tiili, Péter Torzsa, Kirsi Valtonen, Bert Vaes, Kaliy Vasyl, Shlomo Vinker, Limor Adler, Radost Assenova, Maria Bakola, Sabine Bayen, Elena Brutskaya-Stempkovskaya, Iliana-Carmen Busneag, Asja Ćosić Divjak, Maryher Delphin Peña, Philippe-Richard Domeyer, Sabine Feldmane, Dragan Gjorgjievski, Mila Gómez-Johansson, Miroslav Hanževački, Kathryn Hoffmann, Оксана Ільков, Shushman Ivanna, Marijana Jandrić-Kočić, Vasilis Trifon Karathanos, Erva Kirkoç, Aleksandar Kirkovsk, Snežana Knežević, Büsra Çimen Korkmaz, Milena Kostić, Anna Krztoń-Królewiecka, Liga Kozlovska, Katarzyna Nessler, Raquel Gomez Bravo, María Pilar Astier-Peña, Esperanza Diaz, Nina Monteiro, Nagu Penakacherla, Ángel Gónzalez De La Fuente, Boas Dubbelman

Keywords: COVID-19, Primary Care, Clinical Pathways, Health Information System

Background:

Healthcare systems were and are under high-pressure during the COVID-19 pandemic. To organize healthcare services, monitoring cases and follow-up was essential. The main indicators were: number of cases, number of deaths, number of patients hospitalized and number of patients in intensive care units (ICU). However, although the majority of patients were treated in the outpatient sector, mainly in primary acre, there was any official and Europe -wide indicator of the primary health care (PHC) COVID-19 cases

Research questions:

Was there any monitoring indicator of the primary health care (PHC) COVID-19 activity during the pandemic in the 27 participating European countries?

Method:

Retrospective descriptive study in 27 European countries between March 2020-August 2021. Main outcome: Any variables that describes PHC COVID-19 activity. Secondary variables: COVID-19 mobile App, Connection between COVID-19 App and PHC. Data was extracted from official sources considered relevant and reliable. Analysis: Descriptive analysis.

Results:

Ten countries collected information regarding PHC activity. Number of contacts, face-to-face appointments and number of follow-ups were recorded. In Belarus and Italy nearly all the population received medical care in PHC. Information regarding COVID-19 tests referrals issued by GPs was recorded in Poland. Cyprus collected the procedures during the PHC consultation: symptoms assessment, COVID-19 testing, X-ray and phlebotomy. Information from the sick leaves issued by the GPs was recorded in Rumania

Conclusions:

Indicators regarding PHC COVID-19 activity were not routinely recorded in Europe. The indicator more frequently collected was the total COVID-19 cases in PHC. It can be speculated that the neglect to monitor the COVID19 activity in PHC in detail in many countries is a barrier to an overall and adequate response to the pandemic and should be solved soon

Points for discussion:

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