Laestadius Linnea I, Guidry Jeanine P D, Wahl Megan M, Perrin Paul B, Carlyle Kellie E, Dong Xiaobei, Gharbo Raouf, Campos-Castillo Celeste
Zilber College of Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, USA.
Department of Communication and Cognition, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands.
BMC Med. 2024 Jun 13;22(1):243. doi: 10.1186/s12916-024-03465-1.
Seeking and obtaining effective health care for Long COVID remains a challenge in the USA. Women have particularly been impacted, as they are both at higher risk of developing Long COVID and of facing gendered barriers to having symptoms acknowledged. Long COVID clinics, which provide multidisciplinary and coordinated care, have emerged as a potential solution. To date, however, there has been little examination of U.S. patient experiences with Long COVID clinics and how patients may or may not have come to access care at a Long COVID clinic.
We conducted semi-structured interviews with 30 U.S. women aged 18 or older who had experienced Long COVID symptoms for at least 3 months, who had not been hospitalized for acute COVID-19, and who had seen at least one medical provider about their symptoms. Participants were asked about experiences seeking medical care for Long COVID. Long COVID clinic-related responses were analyzed using qualitative framework analysis to identify key themes in experiences with Long COVID clinics.
Of the 30 women, 43.3% (n = 13) had been seen at a Long COVID clinic or by a provider affiliated with a Long COVID clinic and 30.0% (n = 9) had explored or attempted to see a Long COVID clinic but had not been seen at time of interview. Participants expressed five key themes concerning their experiences with seeking care from Long COVID clinics: (1) Access to clinics remains an issue, (2) Clinics are not a one stop shop, (3) Not all clinic providers have sufficient Long COVID knowledge, (4) Clinics can offer validation and care, and (5) Treatment options are critical and urgent.
While the potential for Long COVID clinics is significant, findings indicate that ongoing barriers to care and challenges related to quality and coordination of care hamper that potential and contribute to distress among women seeking Long COVID care. Since Long COVID clinics are uniquely positioned and framed as being the place to go to manage complex symptoms, it is critical to patient wellbeing that they be properly resourced to provide a level of care that complies with emerging best practices.
在美国，为长期新冠患者寻求并获得有效的医疗护理仍是一项挑战。女性受到的影响尤为严重，因为她们患长期新冠的风险更高，而且在让症状得到确认方面面临性别障碍。提供多学科和协调护理的长期新冠诊所已成为一种潜在的解决方案。然而，迄今为止，很少有人研究美国患者在长期新冠诊所的就医经历，以及患者是如何或是否能够在长期新冠诊所获得护理的。
我们对30名18岁及以上的美国女性进行了半结构化访谈，这些女性经历长期新冠症状至少3个月，未因急性新冠病毒感染住院，并且就其症状至少看过一位医疗服务提供者。参与者被问及为长期新冠寻求医疗护理的经历。使用定性框架分析法对与长期新冠诊所相关的回答进行分析，以确定在长期新冠诊所就医经历中的关键主题。
在这30名女性中，43.3%（n = 13）曾在长期新冠诊所或由与长期新冠诊所相关的医疗服务提供者诊治过，30.0%（n = 9）曾探索或试图去长期新冠诊所，但在访谈时未就诊。参与者就其在长期新冠诊所寻求护理的经历表达了五个关键主题：（1）就诊机会仍是一个问题，（2）诊所并非一站式服务，（3）并非所有诊所医疗服务提供者都具备足够的长期新冠知识，（4）诊所可以提供确认和护理，（5）治疗选择至关重要且紧迫。
虽然长期新冠诊所潜力巨大，但研究结果表明，持续存在的护理障碍以及与护理质量和协调相关的挑战阻碍了这种潜力的发挥，并给寻求长期新冠护理的女性带来了困扰。由于长期新冠诊所具有独特的定位，并被视为处理复杂症状的就诊场所，为确保患者的健康，为其提供充足资源以提供符合最新最佳实践水平的护理至关重要。
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