Prevalence of and factors associated with COVID-19 diagnosis in symptomatic patients followed in general practices in Germany between March 2020 and March 2021

Aims: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of and the factors associated with the diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in symptomatic patients followed in general practices in Germany between March 2020 and March 2021. Methods: Symptomatic patients tested for COVID-19 and followed in one of 962 general practices in Germany in March 2020-March 2021 were included in this study. Covariates included sex, age and comorbidities present in at least 3% of the population. The association between these factors and the diagnosis of COVID-19 was analyzed using an adjusted logistic regression model. Results: A total of 301,290 patients tested for COVID-19 were included in this study (54.7% women; mean [SD] age 44.6 [18.5] years). The prevalence of COVID-19 was 13.8% in this sample. Male sex and older age were positively and significantly associated with COVID-19. In terms of comorbidities, the strongest positive associations with COVID-19 were observed for cardiac arrhythmias, depression and obesity. There was also a negative relationship between the odds of being diagnosed with COVID-19 and several conditions such as chronic sinusitis, asthma and anxiety disorders. Conclusions: Approximately 14% of symptomatic patients tested for COVID-19 were diagnosed with COVID-19 in German general practices in March 2020-March 2021.