Family practice
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Primary health care providers (PHCPs) are assumed to be at high risk of a COVID-19 infection, as they are exposed to patients with usually less personal protective equipment (PPE) than other frontline health care workers (HCWs). Nevertheless, current research efforts focussed on the assessment of COVID-19 seroprevalence rates in the general population or hospital HCWs. ⋯ The marked increase in seroprevalence during the second COVID-19 wave shows that PHCPs were more at risk during the second wave compared to the first wave in Flanders. This increase was only slightly higher in PHCPs than in the general population suggesting that the occupational health measures implemented provided sufficient protection when managing patients.
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Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a prevalent yet underdiagnosed health issue, and primary care practitioners are in a unique front-line position to provide care and counsel for the victims. ⋯ PROSPERO CRD42018089857.
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It is expected that GPs are increasingly confronted with a large group of patients with symptoms persisting three weeks after initial symptoms of a mild (managed in the outpatient setting) COVID-19 infection. Currently, research on these persistent symptoms mainly focuses on patients with severe infections (managed in an inpatient setting) whereas patients with mild disease are rarely studied. ⋯ There is already some evidence that symptoms of mild COVID-19 persist after 3 weeks in a third of patients. However, there is a lack of data about symptoms persisting after 3 months (long-COVID). More research is needed to help GPs in managing long-COVID.
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Observational Study
The psychological impact of COVID-19 among primary care physicians in the province of Verona, Italy: a cross-sectional study during the first pandemic wave.
Among healthcare professionals working with COVID-19 patients, general practitioners (GPs) are under considerable pressure and may develop adverse mental health outcomes. ⋯ The high prevalence of adverse mental health outcomes among GPs during the pandemic highlights the importance of timely interventions in this population and promoting targeted preventive actions in the event of future healthcare crises.