This article is a Preprint
Preprints are preliminary research reports that have not been certified by peer review. They should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Preprints posted online allow authors to receive rapid feedback and the entire scientific community can appraise the work for themselves and respond appropriately. Those comments are posted alongside the preprints for anyone to read them and serve as a post publication assessment.
The Impact of COVID-19 on Primary Health Care and Antibiotic Prescribing in Rural China: Qualitative Study (preprint)
researchsquare; 2021.
Preprint
in English
| PREPRINT-RESEARCHSQUARE | ID: ppzbmed-10.21203.rs.3.rs-539063.v1
ABSTRACT
Background:
Primary health care (PHC) system is designated to be responsible for epidemic control and prevention during the outbreak of COVID-19 in China, while COVID-19 suspected cases in PHC are required to be transferred to specialist fever clinics at higher level hospitals. This study aims to understand to impact of COVID-19 on PHC delivery and antibiotic prescribing at community level in the rural areas of central China.Methods:
Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 PHC practitioners and seven patients recruited from two township health centres and nine village clinics in two rural residential areas of Anhui province. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed.Results:
Practitioners’ and patients’ views and perspectives on COVID-19 impacts on PHC services and antibiotic prescribing are organised into four broad themes. PHC practitioners took on a key public health role of tracing, screening and educating in rural areas, while their original role in seeing and treating patients was reduced since government required patients to be diverted. The additional work, risk, and financial pressure that PHC practitioners faced placed considerable strain on them, particularly those working in the village clinics. PHC largely diminished that related to the difficulty of PHC workforce with limited medical training and the high number of elderly patients in rural areas, and as a result of epidemic, rural patients found it more difficult to access health care. Antibiotic prescribing practices for non-COVID-19 respiratory tract infections remained unchanged and were not seen as relevant to practitioners’ knowledge of COVID-19, although overall antibiotic treatments were reduced because fewer patients were attending rural PHC clinics.Conclusions:
Our study identified the considerable impact of COVID-19 epidemic on PHC in rural China. Since COVID-19 epidemic control work has been designated as a long-term task in China, rural PHC clinics now face the challenge of how to balance their principal clinical and prevention and public health roles and, in the case of the village clinics, remain financially viable.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
Preprints
Database:
PREPRINT-RESEARCHSQUARE
Main subject:
COVID-19
Language:
English
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Preprint
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS