ABSTRACT
Background The COVID-19 pandemic has put pressure on health-care services forcing the reorganization of traditional care pathways. Aim To investigate;(1) how physicians taking care of severe asthma patients in Europe reorganized care during the COVID-19 pandemic;(2) patient satisfaction with these changes;and (3) impact on future care. Methods In this European-wide cross-sectional study, patient surveys were sent to patients with a physiciandiagnosis of severe asthma, and physician surveys to severe asthma specialists (November 2020 - May 2021). Results 1101 patients and 268 physicians from 16 European countries contributed to the study. Common physicianreported changes in severe asthma care included use of video/phone consultations (46%) and change to home administered biologics (38%), which resulted in high satisfaction levels in most patients (Figure 1). Many physicians expect continued implementation of video/phone consultations (41%) and home administration of biologics (52%). Conclusions Change to video/phone consultations and home administration of biologics was common in severe asthma care during the COVID-19 pandemic, and was associated with high satisfaction levels in most but not all cases. Many physicians expect these changes to continue in future severe asthma care, though satisfaction levels may change after the pandemic. (Figure Presented).
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Since early March 2020, the COVID-19 epidemic across the United Kingdom has led to a range of social distancing policies, which resulted in changes to mobility across different regions. An understanding of how these policies impacted travel patterns over time and at different spatial scales is important for designing effective strategies, future pandemic planning and in providing broader insights on the population geography of the country. Crowd level data on mobile phone usage can be used as a proxy for population mobility patterns and provide a way of quantifying in near-real time the impact of social distancing measures on changes in mobility. METHODS: Here we explore patterns of change in densities, domestic and international flows and co-location of Facebook users in the UK from March 2020 to March 2021. RESULTS: We find substantial heterogeneities across time and region, with large changes observed compared to pre-pademic patterns. The impacts of periods of lockdown on distances travelled and flow volumes are evident, with each showing variations, but some significant reductions in co-location rates. Clear differences in multiple metrics of mobility are seen in central London compared to the rest of the UK, with each of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland showing significant deviations from England at times. Moreover, the impacts of rapid changes in rules on international travel to and from the UK are seen in substantial fluctuations in traveller volumes by destination. CONCLUSIONS: While questions remain about the representativeness of the Facebook data, previous studies have shown strong correspondence with census-based data and alternative mobility measures, suggesting that findings here are valuable for guiding strategies.