PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Schers, Henk
AU  - van Weel, Chris
AU  - van Boven, Kees
AU  - Akkermans, Reinier
AU  - Bischoff, Erik
AU  - olde Hartman, Tim
TI  - The COVID-19 Pandemic in Nijmegen, the Netherlands: Changes in Presented Health Problems and Demand for Primary Care
AID  - 10.1370/afm.2625
DP  - 2021 Jan 01
TA  - The Annals of Family Medicine
PG  - 44--47
VI  - 19
IP  - 1
4099  - http://www.annfammed.org/content/19/1/44.short
4100  - http://www.annfammed.org/content/19/1/44.full
SO  - Ann Fam Med2021 Jan 01; 19
AB  - We studied the changes in presented health problems and demand for primary care since the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the Netherlands. We analyzed prominent symptom features of COVID-19, and COVID-19 itself as the reason for encounter. Also, we analyzed the number and type of encounters for common important health problems. Respiratory tract symptoms related to COVID-19 were presented more often in 2020 than in 2019. We observed a dramatic increase of telephone/e-mail/Internet consultations in the months after the outbreak. Contacts for other health problems such as prevention and acute and chronic conditions plummeted substantially (P <0.001); mental health problems stabilized.