RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Enhancing the management of long COVID in general practice: a scoping review
JF BJGP Open
JO BJGP Open
FD Royal College of General Practitioners
SP BJGPO.2021.0178
DO 10.3399/BJGPO.2021.0178
VO 6
IS 3
A1 Brennan, Aimee
A1 Broughan, John
A1 McCombe, Geoff
A1 Brennan, John
A1 Collins, Claire
A1 Fawsitt, Ronan
A1 Gallagher, Joe
A1 Guérandel, Allys
A1 O'Kelly, Brendan
A1 Quinlan, Diarmuid
A1 Lambert, John S
A1 Cullen, Walter
YR 2022
UL http://bjgpopen.org/content/6/3/BJGPO.2021.0178.abstract
AB Background Long COVID is a multifaceted condition, and it has impacted a considerable proportion of those with acute COVID-19. Affected patients often have complex care needs requiring holistic and multidisciplinary care, the kind routinely provided in general practice. However, there is limited evidence regarding GP interventions.Aim This study aimed to identify key concepts and knowledge gaps around long COVID by conducting a scoping review of literature on the condition’s management by GPs.Design & setting Arksey and O’Malley’s six-stage scoping review framework, with recommendations by Levac et al, was used.Method PubMed, Google Scholar, the Cochrane Library, Scopus, and Google searches were conducted to identify relevant peer reviewed and grey literature, and study selection process was conducted according to the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews guidelines. Braun and Clarke’s ‘Thematic Analysis’ approach was used to interpret data.Results Nineteen of 972 identified articles were selected for review. These included peer reviewed articles and grey literature spanning a wide range of countries. Six themes were identified regarding GP management of long COVID, these being: (1) GP uncertainty, (2) listening and empathy, (3) assessment and monitoring of symptoms, (4) coordinating access to appropriate services, (5) facilitating provision of continual and integrated multidisciplinary care and (6) need to provide or facilitate psychological support.Conclusion The findings show that GPs can play and have played a key role in the management of long COVID, and that patient care can be improved through better understanding of patient experiences, standardised approaches for symptom identification and treatment, and facilitation of access to multidisciplinary specialist services when needed. Future research evaluating focused GP interventions is needed.