Publications by authors named "Ana Luisa-Neves"

Background: Virtual consultations are being increasingly incorporated into routine primary care, as they offer better time and geographical flexibility for patients while also being cost-effective for both patients and service providers. At the same time, concerns have been raised about the extent to which virtual care is safe for patients. As of now, there is no validated methodology for evaluating the safety nuances and implications of virtual care.

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Background: The proliferation of electronic health records (EHR) in health systems of many high-income countries has ushered in profound changes to how clinical information is used, stored, and disseminated. For patients, being able to easily access and share their health information electronically through interoperable EHRs can often impact safety and their experience when seeking care across healthcare providers. While extensive research exists examining how EHRs affected workflow and technical challenges such as limited interoperability, much of it was done from the viewpoint of healthcare staff rather than from patients themselves.

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Objective: To identify patient-safety-related unintended consequences of healthcare technologies experienced by their primary users: patients, carers and healthcare providers (HCPs).

Design: Qualitative study based on data collected in online focus groups. Transcripts were analysed inductively after each focus group using reflexive thematic analysis, focusing on identifying unintended consequences of healthcare technologies with implications for patient safety.

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Background: Health care organizations globally have seen a significant increase in the frequency of cyberattacks in recent years. Cyberattacks cause massive disruptions to health service delivery and directly impact patient safety through disruption and treatment delays. Given the increasing number of cyberattacks in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), there is a need to explore the interventions put in place to plan for cyberattacks and develop cyber resilience.

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Background: Around 463 million people globally have diabetes, of which over 90% have type 2 diabetes (T2D). Projections indicate an expected increase to 700 million by 2045. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated digital health uptake, establishing virtual consultations as a feasible alternative to traditional in-person care.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study explored the connection between depression, anxiety, and alcohol use disorder (AUD) in individuals diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) within an English primary care population.
  • Researchers analyzed data from nearly 480,000 people diagnosed with T2DM from 2004 to 2019 to see how these mental health conditions occur in those with and without prior AUD.
  • Results indicated that individuals with AUD were significantly more likely to experience new episodes of depression and anxiety after their T2DM diagnosis compared to those without AUD, even after adjusting for various confounding factors.
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Background: This article aims to examine patient safety in general practice during COVID-19.

Methods: In total, 5489 GP practices from 37 European countries and Israel filled in the online self-reported PRICOV-19 survey between November 2020 and December 2021. The outcome measures include 30 patient safety indicators on structure, process, and outcome.

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Background: The COVID-19 vaccination campaign in several European countries involved collaboration between public health and Primary Health Care (PHC).

Objective: To highlight the role of PHC professionals in the COVID-19 vaccination rollout, specifically in terms of vaccine administration, communication and contributing to vaccination population coverage.

Methods: A descriptive retrospective study of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign across 28 European countries was conducted, covering data from December 2020 to November 2021.

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Purpose: Electronic health records (EHR) are valuable resources for health research; however, their use is challenging. A validated alcohol use disorder (AUD) codelist for UK primary care is needed to improve population-based research in this patient group. We aimed to develop an AUD codelist for use in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) Aurum database, a UK EHR primary-care database.

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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated changes in European healthcare systems, with a significant proportion of COVID-19 cases being managed on an outpatient basis in primary healthcare (PHC). To alleviate the burden on healthcare facilities, many European countries developed contact-tracing apps and symptom checkers to identify potential cases. As the pandemic evolved, the European Union introduced the Digital COVID-19 Certificate for travel, which relies on vaccination, recent recovery, or negative test results.

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Article Synopsis
  • Increasing global healthcare demands are causing significant issues in emergency settings, such as overcrowding and longer wait times, prompting providers to explore digital solutions like self-check-in kiosks for better patient triage.
  • This systematic review will analyze the effectiveness and safety of implementing these kiosks in emergency departments by examining existing studies on their impact on triage efficiency, workflow, and patient outcomes.
  • The study does not require ethical approval as it will only assess published research and aims to share its findings through peer-reviewed journals.
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Background: The Cost of Living Crisis (CoLC), a real term reduction in basic income, risks individuals being unable to afford essentials such as heat, food and clothing. The impact of the CoLC is disproportionate - with different population sub-groups more likely to be negatively affected. The objective of this survey was to evaluate the perceived impact of the CoLC on the life and health of participants across four European countries.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The traditional healthcare approach often overlooks patients' personal experiences and strengths, focusing mainly on disease treatment. Person-centered care aims to align medical decisions with individual values and preferences, particularly for those with chronic conditions.
  • - This paper seeks to enhance care for rhinitis and asthma by developing digital care pathways and incorporating real-world evidence to create a more patient-centered approach.
  • - Key components of the review include advancements in mHealth, the integration of artificial intelligence, a novel classification system for airway diseases, and proposals for the ARIA 2024 guidelines, all targeting a sustainable and applicable healthcare model.
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Background: Primary Health Care (PHC) plays a crucial role in managing the COVID-19 pandemic, with only 8% of cases requiring hospitalization. However, PHC COVID-19 data often goes unnoticed on European government dashboards and in media discussions. This project aims to examine official information on PHC patient care during the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, with specific objectives: (1) Describe PHC's clinical pathways for acute COVID-19 cases, including long-term care facilities, (2) Describe PHC COVID-19 pandemic indicators, (3) Develop COVID-19 PHC activity indicators, (4) Explain PHC's role in vaccination strategies, and (5) Create a PHC contingency plan for future pandemics.

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Introduction: Polypharmacy is common among individuals with multimorbidity, often leading to inappropriate medication use and is associated with an increased risk of frailty, hospitalisation and mortality. Structured medication reviews (SMRs) have emerged as a promising method for optimising medication use. However, research examining their efficacy is limited.

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Introduction: Since 2021, the world has been facing a cost-of-living crisis which has negatively affected population health. Meanwhile, little is known about its impact on patients' preferences to access care. We aimed to analyse public preference for the modality of consultation (virtual vs face-to-face) before and after the onset of crisis and factors associated with these preferences.

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Introduction: With the growing use of remote appointments within the National Health Service, there is a need to understand potential barriers of access to care for some patients. In this observational study, we examined missed appointments rates, comparing remote and in-person appointments among different patient groups.

Methods: We analysed adult outpatient appointments at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in Northwest London in 2021.

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Article Synopsis
  • There is a growing need for primary care organizations to safely implement virtual consultations, which are informed by the experiences of 1,600 primary care physicians across 20 countries who highlighted benefits and challenges.
  • The study aims to refine a framework for quality virtual primary care by gathering feedback from actively practicing general practitioners on its components through an iterative eDelphi approach with several rounds of rating and consensus building.
  • Ethical approval has been granted, and the results will be shared anonymously with the public, academic circles, and policymakers to improve virtual care implementation.
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Despite large-scale adoption during COVID-19, patient perceptions on the benefits and potential risks with receiving care through digital technologies have remained largely unexplored. A quantitative content analysis of responses to a questionnaire ( = 6766) conducted at a multi-site acute trust in London (UK), was adopted to identify commonly reported benefits and concerns. Patients reported a range of promising benefits beyond immediate usage during COVID-19, including ease of access; support for disease and care management; improved timeliness of access and treatment; and better prioritisation of healthcare resources.

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We constructed a preventive social behaviours (PSB) Index using survey questions that were aligned with WHO recommendations, and used linear regression to assess the impact of reported COVID-19 deaths (RCD), people's confidence of government handling of the pandemic (CGH) and government stringency (GS) in the United Kingdom (UK) over time on the PSB index. We used repeated, nationally representative, cross-sectional surveys in the UK over the course of 41 weeks from 1st April 2020 to January 28th, 2021, including a total of 38,092 participants. The PSB index was positively correlated with the logarithm of RCD (R: 0.

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Background And Aim: Primary health care (PHC) supported long-term care facilities (LTCFs) in attending COVID-19 patients. The aim of this study is to describe the role of PHC in LTCFs in Europe during the early phase of the pandemic.

Methods: Retrospective descriptive study from 30 European countries using data from September 2020 collected with an ad hoc semi-structured questionnaire.

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