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

Jacob, Louis and Koyanagi, Ai and Smith, Lee and Haro, Josep and Rohe, Anna and Kostev, Karel (2021) Prevalence of and factors associated with COVID-19 diagnosis in symptomatic patients followed in general practices in Germany between March 2020 and March 2021. International Journal of Infectious Diseases, 111. pp. 37-42. ISSN 1201-9712

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Abstract

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.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Keywords:	COVID-19 diagnosis, Germany, prevalence, correlates, associated factors, symptomatic patients, general practices
Faculty:	COVID-19 Research Collection Faculty of Science & Engineering
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic User
Depositing User:	Symplectic User
Date Deposited:	09 Aug 2021 08:35
Last Modified:	20 Jan 2022 17:11
URI:	https://arro.anglia.ac.uk/id/eprint/706786

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