The Use of COVID-19 Mobile Apps in Connecting Patients with Primary Healthcare in 30 Countries: Eurodata Study-Reference-Cited by-同舟云学术

The Use of COVID-19 Mobile Apps in Connecting Patients with Primary Healthcare in 30 Countries: Eurodata Study

Published:2024-07-16 Issue:14 Volume:12 Page:1420
ISSN:2227-9032
Container-title:Healthcare
language:en
Short-container-title:Healthcare

Author:

Gómez-Bravo Raquel¹²,Ares-Blanco Sara³⁴⁵^ORCID,Gefaell Larrondo Ileana⁶⁷^ORCID,Ramos Del Rio Lourdes³,Adler Limor⁸^ORCID,Assenova Radost⁹^ORCID,Bakola Maria¹⁰^ORCID,Bayen Sabine¹¹^ORCID,Brutskaya-Stempkovskaya Elena¹²,Busneag Iliana-Carmen¹³,Divjak Asja¹⁴,Peña Maryher¹⁵,Domeyer Philippe-Richard¹⁶^ORCID,Feldmane Sabine¹⁷,Fitzgerald Louise¹⁸,Gjorgjievski Dragan¹⁹^ORCID,Gómez-Johansson Mila²⁰,Hanževački Miroslav²¹²²,Ilkov Oksana²³^ORCID,Ivanna Shushman²³^ORCID,Jandrić-Kočić Marijana²⁴,Karathanos Vasilis²⁵²⁶,Ücüncü Erva²⁷,Kirkovski Aleksandar²⁸,Knežević Snežana²⁹^ORCID,Korkmaz Büsra³⁰^ORCID,Kostić Milena³¹,Krztoń-Królewiecka Anna³²,Kozlovska Liga³³³⁴,Lingner Heidrun³⁵^ORCID,Murauskienė Liubovė³⁶^ORCID,Nessler Katarzyna³⁷^ORCID,Parodi López Naldy³⁸,Perjés Ábel³⁹,Petek Davorina⁴⁰,Petrazzuoli Ferdinando⁴¹^ORCID,Petricek Goranka²¹,Sattler Martin⁴²,Seifert Bohumil⁴³,Serafini Alice⁴⁴,Sentker Theresa³⁵,Ticmane Gunta³³³⁴,Tiili Paula⁴⁵⁴⁶,Torzsa Péter³⁹,Valtonen Kirsi⁴⁵,Vaes Bert⁴⁷^ORCID,Vinker Shlomo⁸,Neves Ana⁴⁸,Guisado-Clavero Marina⁴⁹,Astier-Peña María⁵⁰^ORCID,Hoffmann Kathryn⁵¹^ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Centre Hospitalier Neuro-Psychiatrique, CHNP, 43, Avenue des Alliés, L-9012 Ettelbruck, Luxembourg

2. Research Group Self-Regulation and Health, Institute for Health and Behaviour, Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences, University of Luxembourg, Campus Belval, Maison des Sciences Humaines 11, Porte des Sciences, L-4366 Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg

3. Federica Montseny Health Centre, Gerencia Asistencial de Atención Primaria, Servicio Madrileño de Salud, Avenida de la Albufera, 285, 28038 Madrid, Spain

4. Medical Specialties and Public Health, School of Health Sciences, University Rey Juan Carlos, Avda. de Atenas, s/n., 28922 Alcorcón, Spain

5. Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Gregorio Marañón, calle del Dr. Esquerdo, 46, 28007 Madrid, Spain

6. Fundación de Investigación e Innovación Biosanitaria de Atención Primaria (FIIBAP), 28003 Madrid, Spain

7. Research Network on Chronicity, Primary Care and Health Promotion-RICAPPS-(RICORS), 28029 Madrid, Spain

8. Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel

9. Department Urology and General Practice, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Plovdiv, 4000 Plovdiv, Bulgaria

10. Research Unit for General Medicine and Primary Health Care, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Science, University of Ioannina, 451 10 Ioannina, Greece

11. Department of General Practice, Faculté de Médicine Henri Warembourg, University of Lille, 59045 Lille, CEDEX 1, France

12. General Medicine Department, Belarusian State Medical University, 220116 Minsk, Belarus

13. Kinetic Therapy and Special Motricity, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, “Spiru Haret” University, 030045 Bucharest, Romania

14. Health Centre Zagreb Centar, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia

15. Department of Geriatric Medicine, Hôpitaux Robert Schuman, L-1130 Luxembourg, Luxembourg

16. School of Social Sciences, Hellenic Open University, 263 35 Patra, Greece

17. Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Rīga Stradins University, LV-1007 Riga, Latvia

18. Irish College of General Practice (MICGP), Royal College of Physician (MRCSI), D02 YN77 Dublin, Ireland

19. Center for Family Medicine, Medical Faculty Skopje, 1000 Skopje, North Macedonia

20. Capio Kvillebäcken Health Centre, 417 22 Gothenburg, Sweden

21. Department of Family Medicine, “Andrija Stampar” School of Public Health, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia

22. Health Centre Zagreb West, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia

23. Department of Family Medicine and Outpatient Care, Medical Faculty, Uzhhorod National University, Narodna Square, 3, 88000 Uzhhorod, Transcarpathian Region, Ukraine

24. Health Center Krupa Na Uni, 79227 Krupa na Uni, Bosnia and Herzegovina

25. Medical Education Unit, Laboratory of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Medical Department, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ioannina, 451 10 Ioannina, Greece

26. General Health System (GHS) Cyprus, 6037 Larnaca, Cyprus

27. Department of Family Medicine, Prof. Dr. Cemil Tascioglu City Hospital, 34384 Istanbul, Turkey

28. Faculty of Medicine, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, 1000 Skopje, North Macedonia

29. Department of Medical Sciences, Academy of Applied Studies Polytechnic, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia

30. Van Gürpınar District Public Hospital, 65900 Gürpınar, Turkey

31. Health Center “Dr. Đorđe Kovačević”, 11550 Lazarevac, Serbia

32. Department of Family Medicine, Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski Krakow University, 30-705 Krakow, Poland

33. Department of Family Medicine, Riga Stradins University, LV-1007 Riga, Latvia

34. Rural Family Doctors’ Association of Latvia, LV-4501 Balvi, Latvia

35. Center for Public Health and Healthcare, Department of Medical Psychologie OE5430, Hannover Medical School, 30625 Hannover, Germany

36. Department of Public Health, Institute of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, 03101 Vilnius, Lithuania

37. Department of Family Medicine, Uniwersytet Jagielloński—Collegium Medicum (UJCM), 31-061 Krakow, Poland

38. Department of Pharmacology, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, 405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden

39. Department of Family Medicine, Semmelweis University, 1085 Budapest, Hungary

40. Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Vrazov trg 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia

41. Department of Clinical Sciences in Malmö, Centre for Primary Health Care Research, Lund University, 221 00 Malmö, Sweden

42. European Parliament, L-2929 Luxembourg, Luxembourg

43. Institute of General Practice, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Albertov 7, 110 00 Prague, Czech Republic

44. Azienda Unità Sanitaria Locale di Modena, Laboratorio EduCare, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, 41121 Reggio Emilia, Italy

45. Communicable Diseases and Infection Control Unit, Wellbeing Services, County of Vantaa and Kerava, P.O. Box 341, 01301 Vantaa, Finland

46. Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 63, 00014 Helsinki, Finland

47. Department of Public Health and Primary Care, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium

48. Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK

49. Investigation Support Multidisciplinary Unit for Primary Care and Community North Area of Madrid, 28035 Madrid, Spain

50. Universitas Health Centre, SALUD (Servicio Aragonés de Salud), University of Zaragoza, Andres Vicente 42, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain

51. Department of Primary Care Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated changes in European healthcare systems, with a significant proportion of COVID-19 cases being managed on an outpatient basis in primary healthcare (PHC). To alleviate the burden on healthcare facilities, many European countries developed contact-tracing apps and symptom checkers to identify potential cases. As the pandemic evolved, the European Union introduced the Digital COVID-19 Certificate for travel, which relies on vaccination, recent recovery, or negative test results. However, the integration between these apps and PHC has not been thoroughly explored in Europe. Objective: To describe if governmental COVID-19 apps allowed COVID-19 patients to connect with PHC through their apps in Europe and to examine how the Digital COVID-19 Certificate was obtained. Methodology: Design and setting: Retrospective descriptive study in PHC in 30 European countries. An ad hoc, semi-structured questionnaire was developed to collect country-specific data on primary healthcare activity during the COVID-19 pandemic and the use of information technology tools to support medical care from 15 March 2020 to 31 August 2021. Key informants belong to the WONCA Europe network (World Organization of Family Doctors). The data were collected from relevant and reliable official sources, such as governmental websites and guidelines. Main outcome measures: Patient’s first contact with health system, governmental COVID-19 app (name and function), Digital COVID-19 Certification, COVID-19 app connection with PHC. Results: Primary care was the first point of care for suspected COVID-19 patients in 28 countries, and 24 countries developed apps to complement classical medical care. The most frequently developed app was for tracing COVID-19 cases (24 countries), followed by the Digital COVID-19 Certificate app (17 countries). Bulgaria, Italy, Serbia, North Macedonia, and Romania had interoperability between PHC and COVID-19 apps, and Poland and Romania’s apps considered social needs. Conclusions: COVID-19 apps were widely created during the first pandemic year. Contact tracing was the most frequent function found in the registered apps. Connection with PHC was scarcely developed. In future pandemics, connections between health system levels should be guaranteed to develop and implement effective strategies for managing diseases.

Funder

European General Practice Research Network

Department of Primary Care Medicine, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre

Publisher

MDPI AG

Link

https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/12/14/1420/pdf

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