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MacEwan SR, Rahurkar S, Tarver WL, Forward C, Eramo JL, Teuschler L, Gaughan AA, Rush LJ, Stanwick S, McConnell E, Schamess A, McAlearney AS. Patient Experiences Navigating Care Coordination For Long COVID: A Qualitative Study. J Gen Intern Med 2024:10.1007/s11606-024-08622-z. [PMID: 38308155 DOI: 10.1007/s11606-024-08622-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2023] [Accepted: 01/09/2024] [Indexed: 02/04/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Little is known about how to best evaluate, diagnose, and treat long COVID, which presents challenges for patients as they seek care. OBJECTIVE Understand experiences of patients as they navigate care for long COVID. DESIGN Qualitative study involving interviews with patients about topics related to seeking and receiving care for long COVID. PARTICIPANTS Eligible patients were at least 18 years of age, spoke English, self-identified as functioning well prior to COVID infection, and reported long COVID symptoms continued to impact their lives at 3 months or more after a COVID infection. APPROACH Patients were recruited from a post-COVID recovery clinic at an academic medical center from August to September 2022. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using thematic analysis. KEY RESULTS Participants (n=21) reported experiences related to elements of care coordination: access to care, evaluation, treatment, and ongoing care concerns. Some patients noted access to care was facilitated by having providers that listened to and validated their symptoms; other patients reported feeling their access to care was hindered by providers who did not believe or understand their symptoms. Patients reported confusion around how to communicate their symptoms when being evaluated for long COVID, and they expressed frustration with receiving test results that were normal or diagnoses that were not directly attributed to long COVID. Patients acknowledged that clinicians are still learning how to treat long COVID, and they voiced appreciation for providers who are willing to try new treatment approaches. Patients expressed ongoing care concerns, including feeling there is nothing more that can be done, and questioned long-term impacts on their aging and life expectancy. CONCLUSIONS Our findings shed light on challenges faced by patients with long COVID as they seek care. Healthcare systems and providers should consider these challenges when developing strategies to improve care coordination for patients with long COVID.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah R MacEwan
- Division of General Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
- Center for the Advancement of Team Science, Analytics, and Systems Thinking in Health Services and Implementation Science Research (CATALYST), College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
| | - Saurabh Rahurkar
- Center for the Advancement of Team Science, Analytics, and Systems Thinking in Health Services and Implementation Science Research (CATALYST), College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Willi L Tarver
- Center for the Advancement of Team Science, Analytics, and Systems Thinking in Health Services and Implementation Science Research (CATALYST), College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
- Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Cortney Forward
- Center for the Advancement of Team Science, Analytics, and Systems Thinking in Health Services and Implementation Science Research (CATALYST), College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Jennifer L Eramo
- Center for the Advancement of Team Science, Analytics, and Systems Thinking in Health Services and Implementation Science Research (CATALYST), College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Lauren Teuschler
- Center for the Advancement of Team Science, Analytics, and Systems Thinking in Health Services and Implementation Science Research (CATALYST), College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Alice A Gaughan
- Center for the Advancement of Team Science, Analytics, and Systems Thinking in Health Services and Implementation Science Research (CATALYST), College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Laura J Rush
- Center for the Advancement of Team Science, Analytics, and Systems Thinking in Health Services and Implementation Science Research (CATALYST), College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Stacy Stanwick
- Division of General Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Erin McConnell
- Division of General Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Andrew Schamess
- Division of General Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Ann Scheck McAlearney
- Center for the Advancement of Team Science, Analytics, and Systems Thinking in Health Services and Implementation Science Research (CATALYST), College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
- Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
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