Differences between Rural and Urban Practices in the Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Outcomes from the PRICOV-19 Study in 38 Countries

Ferdinando Petrazzuoli (), Claire Collins, Esther Van Poel, Athina Tatsioni, Sven Streit, Gazmend Bojaj, Radost Asenova, Kathryn Hoffmann, Jonila Gabrani, Zalika Klemenc-Ketis, Andrée Rochfort, Limor Adler, Adam Windak, Katarzyna Nessler and Sara Willems
Additional contact information
Ferdinando Petrazzuoli: Department of Clinical Sciences, Centre for Primary Health Care Research, Lund University, 21428 Malmö, Sweden
Claire Collins: Research Centre, Irish College of General Practitioners, D02 XR68 Dublin, Ireland
Esther Van Poel: Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Athina Tatsioni: Research Unit for General Medicine and Primary Health Care, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece
Sven Streit: Institute of Primary Health Care (BIHAM), University of Bern, Mittelstrasse 43, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
Gazmend Bojaj: Department of Management of Health Services and Institution, Heimerer College, 1000 Pristina, Kosovo
Radost Asenova: Department of Urology and General Practice, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University Plovdiv, 4003 Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Kathryn Hoffmann: Department of Social- and Preventive Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
Jonila Gabrani: Faculty of Medicine, University of Basel, 4001 Basel, Switzerland
Zalika Klemenc-Ketis: Department of Family Medicine, Medical Faculty, University of Maribor, Tabroska 8, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia
Andrée Rochfort: Research Centre, Irish College of General Practitioners, D02 XR68 Dublin, Ireland
Limor Adler: Department of Family Medicine, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6195001, Israel
Adam Windak: Department of Family Medicine, Jagiellonian University Medical College, 31-061 Krakow, Poland
Katarzyna Nessler: Department of Family Medicine, Jagiellonian University Medical College, 31-061 Krakow, Poland
Sara Willems: Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 4, 1-13

Abstract: This paper explores the differences between rural and urban practices in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasizing aspects such as management of patient flow, infection prevention and control, information processing, communication and collaboration. Using a cross-sectional design, data were collected through the online PRICOV-19 questionnaire sent to general practices in 38 countries. Rural practices in our sample were smaller than urban-based practices. They reported an above-average number of old and multimorbid patients and a below-average number of patients with a migrant background or financial problems. Rural practices were less likely to provide leaflets and information, but were more likely to have ceased using the waiting room or to have made structural changes to their waiting room and to have changed their prescribing practices in terms of patients attending the practices. They were less likely to perform video consultations or use electronic prescription methods. Our findings show the existence of certain issues that could impact patient safety in rural areas more than in urban areas due to the underlying differences in population profile and supports. These could be used to plan the organization of care for similar future pandemic situations.

Keywords: primary health care; general practice; urban; rural; quality of care; international comparison; COVID-19; PRICOV-19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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