ArticleJMIR human factors2022
Trends in Remote Health Care Consumption in Sweden: Comparison Before and During the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Article in JMIR human factors, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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13 citing papers in PubMed, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Factors affecting nurses' acceptance of a digital triage platform in primary health care in Sweden: an extended UTAUT analysis.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2026Article
- Exploring English and Swedish General Practitioners' Behavioral Intentions to Use Telemedicine: Comparative Study.JMIR human factors · 2026Article
- Sickness absence due to common mental disorders and antidepressant prescription among health and social care workers during compared with before the COVID-19 pandemic: a nationwide register study of the Swedish population.Journal of occupational health · 2026Article
- Physicians' intentions to use digital tools - a comparative survey, before and after the COVID-19 pandemic, in Southern Sweden.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2024Article
- A new normal in primary care: the rapid normalization of a major eHealth program in public health centers.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Article
- Rehab-AMD: co-design of an application for visual rehabilitation and monitoring of Age-related Macular Degeneration.BMC medical informatics and decision making · 2024Article
- eVisits to primary care and subsequent health care contacts: a register-based study.BMC primary care · 2024Article
- Time series analysis of COVID-19's impact on physician and dentist visits in Iran.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- French General Practitioners' Adaptations for Patients with Suspected COVID-19 in May 2020.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Hospital Admission Rates in Patients with COPD Throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic.International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease · 2023Article
- Telerehabilitation during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden: a survey of use and perceptions among physiotherapists treating people with neurological diseases or older adults.BMC health services research · 2022Article
- "Get Used to the Fact That Some of the Care Is Really Going to Take Place in a Different Way": General Practitioners' Experiences with E-Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundRemote assessment of respiratory tract infections (RTIs) has been a controversial topic during the fast development of private telemedicine providers in Swedish primary health care. The possibility to unburden the traditional care has been put against a questionable quality of care as well as risks of increased utilization and costs. The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to a changed management of patient care to decrease viral spread, with an expected shift in contact types from in-person to remote ones.
objectiveThe main aim of this study was to compare health care consumption and type of contacts (in-person or remote) for RTIs before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The second aim was to study whether the number of follow-up contacts after an index contact for RTIs changed during the study period, and whether the number of follow-up contacts differed if the index contact was in-person or remote. A third aim was to study whether the pattern of follow-up contacts differed depending on whether the index contact was with a traditional or a private telemedicine provider.
methodsThe study design was an observational retrospective analysis with a description of all index contacts and follow-up contacts with physicians in primary care and emergency rooms in a Swedish region (Skåne) for RTIs including patients of all ages and comparison for the same periods in 2018, 2019, and 2020.
resultsCompared with 2018 and 2019, there were fewer index contacts for RTIs per 1000 inhabitants in 2020. By contrast, the number of follow-up contacts, both per 1000 inhabitants and per index contact, was higher in 2020. The composition of both index and follow-up contacts changed as the share of remote contacts, in particular for traditional care providers, increased.
conclusionsDuring the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, fewer index contacts for RTIs but more follow-up contacts were conducted, compared with 2018-2019. The share of both index and follow-up contacts that were conducted remotely increased. Further studies are needed to study the reasons behind the increase in remote contacts, and if it will last after the pandemic, and more clinical guidelines for remote assessments of RTI are warranted.
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