Scandinavian journal of primary health care
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Scand J Prim Health Care · Sep 2022
Influences of COVID-19 pandemic on hospital-at-home functions in Finland - a questionnaire survey.
To investigate functions of Finnish hospital-at-home (HAH) during the first year of COVID19-pandemic 2020 compared with the previous year 2019. ⋯ The COVID-19 pandemic did not largely influence the functions of the examined Finnish HAHs in 2020. Most activities and patients' characteristics remained unchanged from 2019. The role of HAHs should be further developed in Scandinavian countries, particularly during pandemics.Key PointsHospital-at-home (HAH) is a cost-effective model to provide hospital-like services.Data about the role of HAHs during COVID19 pandemics is lacking in the Nordic countries.This study shows that, the large Finnish municipal HAHs have been not influenced by pandemics.
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Scand J Prim Health Care · Sep 2022
'But there are so many referrals which are totally … only generating work and irritation': a qualitative study of physicians' and nurses' experiences of work tasks in primary care in Sweden.
This study explored the perceptions of physicians and nurses in Swedish primary care regarding the legitimacy of their work tasks and the use of their professional competence. ⋯ Strained work situations and illegitimate work tasks may inflate discontentment and lead to negative work stress. Nevertheless, the staff felt that competence was used appropriately in the tasks considered legitimate.Key PointsPhysicians and nurses in primary care in Sweden described several work tasks as illegitimate.Physicians and nurses described problems with heavy workloads, resource shortages, electronic data-system challenges, inefficiencies and with cooperation and drawing the line between primary care and hospital care.Overall, physicians and nurses believed their individual expertise was used appropriately.To uphold sustainable working conditions and thoughtful use of staff competence, organisational measures, such as redistributing staff from hospital to primary care were proposed.
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Scand J Prim Health Care · Sep 2022
Late-effect awareness and follow-up of cancer in general practice.
With increasing cancer incidence and survival rates, follow-up care becomes a major healthcare concern, placing increased demands on general practitioners (GPs). We explored GPs' awareness of late effects (LEs) after cancer treatment. Their degree of involvement and attitudes towards follow-up care was studied separately for solid cancers and Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL). ⋯ GPs' awareness of LEs and their willingness to provide follow-up care were related to familiarity with guidelines and experience. GPs more involved in follow-up care also had higher knowledge of LEs. Distribution of guidelines on LEs and follow-up care, and improving collaboration with hospital specialists, might increase GPs' knowledge and willingness to become involved in follow-up care, especially early in their careers. GPs' involvement and attitude towards follow-up of survivors of common solid cancers and HL, a rare malignant disease, were similar.KEY POINTSNorwegian general practitioners (GPs) are involved in survivorship care after cancer treatment. We investigated their awareness of late effects (LEs), their involvement and their attitude towards follow-up care of solid cancers and Hodgkin's lymphoma. • GPs registered as specialists, aware of guidelines and with experience from hospital-based cancer care reported higher awareness of LEs. • GPs with higher awareness of LEs were more frequently involved in follow-up care. • GPs with longer experience in general practice were comfortable with follow-up care at an earlier stage after treatment. • Results were similar for follow-up care of survivors of solid cancers and Hodgkin's lymphoma.
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Scand J Prim Health Care · Sep 2022
Do they cope or mope? A survey of GPs' experiences with the changes in the Norwegian Cervical Cancer Screening Programme.
To explore Norwegian general practitioners' (GPs) experiences with the changes in the cervical cancer screening programme and to uncover which aspects of the programme they find most challenging. ⋯ The implementation of HPV-based cervical cancer screening in women 34-69 years does not seem to have affected how challenging the GPs perceive the screening programme.Key PointsHow Norwegian general practitioners (GPs) keep up with changes in the Norwegian Cervical Cancer Screening Programme (NCCSP) has not been assessed previously.Most GPs did not find it particularly challenging to keep up with changes in the NCCSP regardless of whether they belonged to an area of HPV-based or cytology-based screening.The follow-up of patients with an abnormal test result was one of the main challenges reported by the GPs.
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Scand J Prim Health Care · Sep 2022
Long-COVID in patients with a history of mild or asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection: a Nationwide Cohort Study.
Evaluating the prevalence of long-COVID symptoms in patients with a history of mild or asymptomatic infection with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the factors associated with developing long-COVID. ⋯ Long-COVID is frequently seen following a mild symptomatic COVID-19 infection and, to a lesser extent, following an asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection. Primary care physicians should be aware of these symptoms and consider this option in their differential diagnosis. Health policymakers should expect a significant impact of this syndrome on public health.Key PointsLong-COVID has emerged as a significant health problem with a serious impact on normal daily function• Long-COVID symptoms were evident in patients with mild symptomatic disease and in asymptomatic patients to a lesser extent.• Risk factors for having Long-COVID symptoms include female gender, symptomatic disease, increased BMI, and the presence of dyslipidemia.• Fatigue, dyspnea, weakness, decreased libido, weight changes, memory, and sleep disturbances were associated with not returning to the baseline health state.