ReviewFamily practice2021
Lessons for the global primary care response to COVID-19: a rapid review of evidence from past epidemics.
Review in Family practice, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 50 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
50 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 89 citations in OpenAlex.
- Ten pressure points in primary care during COVID-19: findings from an international narrative review.BMC primary care · 2025Pooled it
- Integrating Primary Health Care into Flexible Surge Capacity: Bridging the Subnational "Missing Middle" in Health Emergency Preparedness.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Developing a framework for primary health care resilience in pandemic conditions for Iran.Journal of health, population, and nutrition · 2026Article
- Bridging crisis recovery and long-term transformation of the health system in Lebanon: evidence from key informant interviews and global lessons.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Impact of the hierarchical medical system on the perceived quality of primary care in China: a quasi-experimental study.Global health research and policy · 2025Article
- "You do it for the patient": a qualitative analysis of changes to primary care nurses' workplace demands and resources during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada.Frontiers in health services · 2025Article
- Adaptation of French general practitioners for the management of nursing home patients during COVID-19 in 2020: a multilevel analysis.BMC primary care · 2024Article
- Strategies to strengthen the resilience of primary health care in the COVID-19 pandemic: a scoping review.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Exploring the accessibility of primary health care data in Europe's COVID-19 response: developing key indicators for managing future pandemics (Eurodata study).BMC primary care · 2024Article
- What makes health systems resilient? An analytical framework drawing on European learnings from the COVID-19 pandemic based on a multitiered approach.BMJ public health · 2024Article
- Primary care indicators for disease burden, monitoring and surveillance of COVID-19 in 31 European countries: Eurodata Study.European journal of public health · 2024Article
- Barriers and strategies for primary health care workforce development: synthesis of evidence.BMC primary care · 2024Review
- "Family doctors are also people": a qualitative analysis of how family physicians managed competing personal and professional responsibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.Human resources for health · 2024Article
- Perspectives and experiences of healthcare providers on the response to the COVID-19 pandemic in three maternal and neonatal referral hospitals in Guinea in 2020: a qualitative study.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- A novel methodological approach to participant engagement and policy relevance for community-based primary medical care research during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia and New Zealand.Health research policy and systems · 2024Article
- How Primary Healthcare Sector is Organized at the Territorial Level in France? A Typology of Territorial Structuring.International journal of health policy and management · 2024Article
- Changes in primary care visits for respiratory illness during the COVID-19 pandemic: a multinational study by the International Consortium of Primary Care Big Data Researchers (INTRePID).Frontiers in medicine · 2024Article
- The district operation centres in one of the largest local health authorities in Italy to manage COVID-19 surveillance and homecare: first implementation and results of a survey addressed to general practitioners.BMC health services research · 2023Article
- Lessons learned from the experiences and perspectives of frontline healthcare workers on the COVID-19 response: a qualitative descriptive study.BMC health services research · 2023Article
- The roles and challenges of the primary health care systems in epidemic management: a scoping review.Primary health care research & development · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCOVID-19 is the fifth and most significant infectious disease epidemic this century. Primary health care providers, which include those working in primary care and public health roles, have critical responsibilities in the management of health emergencies.
objectiveTo synthesize accounts of primary care lessons learnt from past epidemics and their relevance to COVID-19.
methodsWe conducted a review of lessons learnt from previous infectious disease epidemics for primary care, and their relevance to COVID-19. We searched PubMed/MEDLINE, PROQUEST and Google Scholar, hand-searched reference lists of included studies, and included research identified through professional contacts.
resultsOf 173 publications identified, 31 publications describing experiences of four epidemics in 11 countries were included. Synthesis of findings identified six key lessons: (i) improve collaboration, communication and integration between public health and primary care; (ii) strengthen the primary health care system; (iii) provide consistent, coordinated and reliable information emanating from a trusted source; (iv) define the role of primary care during pandemics; (v) protect the primary care workforce and the community and (vi) evaluate the effectiveness of interventions.
conclusionsEvidence highlights distinct challenges to integrating and supporting primary care in response to infectious disease epidemics that have persisted over time, emerging again during COVID-19. These insights provide an opportunity for strengthening, and improved preparedness, that cannot be ignored in a world where the frequency, virility and global reach of infectious disease outbreaks are increasing. It is not too soon to plan for the next pandemic, which may already be on the horizon.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.