Understanding symptoms suggestive of long COVID syndrome and healthcare use among community-based populations in Manitoba, Canada: an observational cross-sectional survey

Objective This study aims to characterise respondents who have COVID-19 and long COVID syndrome (LCS), and describe their symptoms and healthcare utilisation.Design Observational cross-sectional survey.Setting The one-time online survey was available from June 2022 to November 2022 to capture the experience of residents in Manitoba, Canada.Participant Individuals shared their experience with COVID-19 including their COVID-19 symptoms, symptoms suggestive of LCS and healthcare utilisation. We used descriptive statistics to characterise patients with COVID-19, describe symptoms suggestive of LCS and explore respondent health system use based on presenting symptoms.Results There were 654 Manitobans who responded to our survey, 616 (94.2%) of whom had or provided care to someone who had COVID-19, and 334 (54.2%) reported symptoms lasting 3 or more months. On average, respondents reported having 10 symptoms suggestive of LCS, with the most common being extreme fatigue (79.6%), issues with concentration, thinking and memory (76.6%), shortness of breath with activity (65.3%) and headaches (64.1%). Half of the respondents (49.2%) did not seek healthcare for COVID-19 or LCS. Primary care was sought by 66.2% respondents with symptoms suggestive of LCS, 15.2% visited an emergency department and 32.0% obtained care from a specialist or therapist. 62.6% of respondents with symptoms suggestive of LCS reported reducing work, school or other activities which demonstrate its impact on physical function and health-related quality of life.Conclusion Consistent with the literature, there are a variety of symptoms experienced among individuals with COVID-19 and LCS. Healthcare providers face challenge in providing care for patients with a wide range of symptoms unlikely to respond to a single intervention. These findings support the value of interdisciplinary COVID-19 clinics due to the complexity of the syndrome. This study confirms that data collected from the healthcare system do not provide a comprehensive reflection of LCS

Characteristics associated with pediatric growth measurement collection in electronic medical records: a retrospective observational study

Abstract Background Complete growth measurements are an essential part of pediatric care providing a proxy for a child’s overall health. This study describes the frequency of well-child visits, documented growth measurements, and clinic and provider factors associated with measurement. Methods Retrospective cross-sectional study utilizing electronic medical records (EMRs) from primary care clinics between 2015 and 2017 in Manitoba, Canada. This study assessed the presence of recorded height, weight and head circumference among children (0–24 months) who visited one of 212 providers participating in the Manitoba Primary Care Research Network. Descriptive and multivariable logistic regression analyses assessed clinic, provider, and patient factors associated with children having complete growth measurements. Results Our sample included 4369 children. The most frequent growth measure recorded was weight (79.2% n = 3460) followed by height (70.8% n = 3093) and head circumference (51.4% n = 2246). 67.5% of children (n = 2947) had at least one complete growth measurement recorded (i.e. weight, height and head circumference) and 13.7% (n = 599) had complete growth measurements at all well-child intervals attended. Pediatricians had 2.7 higher odds of documenting complete growth measures within well-child intervals compared to family physicians (95% CI 1.8–3.8). Additionally, urban located clinics (OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.2–2.5), Canadian trained providers (OR 2.3, 95% CI 1.4–3.7), small practice size (OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.2–2.2) and salaried providers (OR 3.4, 95% CI 2.2–5.2) had higher odds of documented growth measures. Conclusions Growth measurements are recorded in EMRs but documentation is variable based on clinic and provider factors. Pediatric growth measures at primary care appointments can improve primary prevention and surveillance of child health outcomes

Pan-Canadian Electronic Medical Record Diagnostic and Unstructured Text Data for Capturing PTSD: Retrospective Observational Study

BackgroundThe availability of electronic medical record (EMR) free-text data for research varies. However, access to short diagnostic text fields is more widely available. ObjectiveThis study assesses agreement between free-text and short diagnostic text data from primary care EMR for identification of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). MethodsThis retrospective cross-sectional study used EMR data from a pan-Canadian repository representing 1574 primary care providers at 265 clinics using 11 EMR vendors. Medical record review using free text and short diagnostic text fields of the EMR produced reference standards for PTSD. Agreement was assessed with sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy. ResultsOur reference set contained 327 patients with free text and short diagnostic text. Among these patients, agreement between free text and short diagnostic text had an accuracy of 93.6% (CI 90.4%-96.0%). In a single Canadian province, case definitions 1 and 4 had a sensitivity of 82.6% (CI 74.4%-89.0%) and specificity of 99.5% (CI 97.4%-100%). However, when the reference set was expanded to a pan-Canada reference (n=12,104 patients), case definition 4 had the strongest agreement (sensitivity: 91.1%, CI 90.1%-91.9%; specificity: 99.1%, CI 98.9%-99.3%). ConclusionsInclusion of free-text encounter notes during medical record review did not lead to improved capture of PTSD cases, nor did it lead to significant changes in case definition agreement. Within this pan-Canadian database, jurisdictional differences in diagnostic codes and EMR structure suggested the need to supplement diagnostic codes with natural language processing to capture PTSD. When unavailable, short diagnostic text can supplement free-text data for reference set creation and case validation. Application of the PTSD case definition can inform PTSD prevalence and characteristics

Who is asked about alcohol consumption? A retrospective cohort study using a national repository of Electronic Medical Records

Documentation of alcohol use in electronic medical record (EMR) informs interventions to reduce alcohol-related morbidity and mortality. This retrospective cohort study explored EMR data from 960 primary care providers participating in the Canadian Primary Care Sentinel Surveillance Network to describe documentation of alcohol use (e.g. none, current or past use) in the EMR. Included providers represented 700,620 adult patients from across Canada with an encounter between 2015 and 2018. Bivariate comparisons characterized the patients with, and without, documentation of alcohol use. Multivariate generalized estimating equation models with logit function assessed patient and provider characteristics associated with (1) documentation of alcohol and (2) patients with heightened risk for alcohol-related problems. Forty percent of patients had alcohol use documentation in the EMR. Light alcohol consumption was recorded for 43.6% of these patients. Male patients (OR1.09, CI 1.07–1.12), who were older (OR1.26, CI 1.23–1.30), had more frequent visits to their provider (OR1.11, CI 1.09–1.13) and had hypertension (OR1.07, CI 1.06–1.09) or depression (OR1.07, CI 1.09–1.14) had higher odds of alcohol documentation. There were 4.7% of patients with a record indicating heightened risk for alcohol-related problems. Male patients (OR3.27 CI 3.14–3.4), patients with depression (OR2.01 CI1.93–2.1) and rural residency (OR1.35 CI1.29–1.42) was associated with risk for alcohol-related problems. Heavy alcohol consumption is associated with an increased risk of negative health outcomes, particularly for patients with certain chronic conditions. However, these patients do not have alcohol use consistently documented in the EMR. Strategies should be designed and implemented to support more consistent alcohol-screening among high-risk patients

Validation of a primary care electronic medical records case definition for eczema : retrospective cross-sectional study

To validate case definitions for eczema using primary care Electronic Medical Record (EMR) data from the Canadian Primary Care Sentential Surveillance Network (CPCSSN). This study used EMR data from 1,574 primary care providers in seven Canadian provinces, representing 689,301 patients. Using a subset of patient records seven medical students or family medicine residents created a reference set of 1,772 patients. A total of 23 clinician-informed case definitions were validated against the reference. We assessed agreement using sensitivity (SE), specificity (SP), positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) and overall accuracy. The case definitions with the best agreement statistics were deployed to estimate the prevalence of eczema in the CPCSSN. Case definition 1 had the highest SE (92.1%,85.0-96.5) but a lower SP (88.5%,86.7–90.1) and PPV (36.6%,33.1–40.3). Case definition 7 was the most specific case definition with a SP (99.8%, 99.4–100) and PPV (84.2%,61.2–94.7) but low SE (15.8%,9.3–24.5). Case definition 17 had a SE (75.3%, 65.7–83.3), SP (93.8%, 91.5–94.3) and PPV 43.7% (38.3–49.2). When we applied the most specific and most sensitive case definitions, we estimate the prevalence of eczema to be between 0.8 and 15.1%. Case definition 17 suggests an eczema prevalence estimate of 8.2% (8.08–8.21%). We validated EMR-based eczema case definitions to estimate the prevalence of clinician-documented eczema. Future studies may choose to apply one or more of these definitions’ dependent on their studies objectives to inform disease surveillance as well as explore burden of illness or interventions related to eczema care in Canada.Medicine, Faculty ofNon UBCPediatrics, Department ofReviewedFacultyResearche

Implementing an audit and feedback cycle to improve adherence to the Choosing Wisely Canada recommendations : clustered randomized trail

Background: Audit and Feedback (A&F), a strategy aimed at promoting modified practice through performance feedback, is a method to change provider behaviour and reduce unnecessary medical services. This study aims to assess the use of A&F to reduce antibiotic prescribing for viral infections and antipsychotic prescribing to patients with dementia. Methods: Clustered randomized trial of 239 primary care providers in Manitoba, Canada, participating in the Manitoba Primary Care Research Network. Forty-six practices were randomly assigned to one of three groups: control group, intervention 1 (recommendations summary), intervention 2 (recommendations summary and personalized feedback). We assessed prescribing rates prior to the intervention (2014/15), during and immediately after the intervention (2016/17) and following the intervention (2018/19). Physician characteristics were assessed. Results: Between 2014/15–2016/17, 91.6% of providers in intervention group 1 and 95.9% of providers in intervention group 2 reduced their antibiotic and antipsychotic prescribing rate by ≥ 1 compared to the control group (77.6%) (p-value 0.0073). This reduction was maintained into 2018/19 at 91.4%. On multivariate regression alternatively funded providers had 2.4 × higher odds of reducing their antibiotic prescribing rate compared to fee-for-service providers. In quantile regression of providers with a reduction in antibiotic prescribing, alternatively funded (e.g. salaried or locum) providers compared to fee-for-service providers were significant at the 80th quantile. Conclusions: Both A&F and recommendation summaries sent to providers by a trusted source reduced unnecessary prescriptions. Our findings support further scale up of efforts to engage with primary care practices to improve care with A&F.Medicine, Faculty ofNon UBCPediatrics, Department ofReviewedFacultyResearcherOthe

Characterizing the use of virtual care in primary care settings during the COVID-19 pandemic: a retrospective cohort study

Background In March 2020, Canada implemented restrictions to curb viral transmission of COVID-19, which resulted in abrupt disruptions to conventional (in-person) clinical care. To retain continuity of care the delivery of primary care services shifted to virtual care. This study examined the nature of virtual visits, characterizing the use and users of virtual care in primary care settings from March 14/20 to June 30/20 of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Methods Retrospective cohort study of primary care providers in Manitoba, Canada that participate in the Manitoba Primary Care Research Network (MaPCReN) and offered ≥ 1 virtual care visit between 03/14/20 and 06/30/20 representing 142,616 patients. Tariff codes from billing records determined the visit type (clinic visit, virtual care). Between 03/14/20, and 06/30/20, we assessed each visit for a follow-up visit between the same patient and provider for the same diagnosis code. Patient (sex, age, comorbidities, visit frequency, prescriptions) and provider (sex, age, clinic location, provider type, remuneration, country of graduation, return visit rate) characteristics describe the study population by visit type. Generalized estimating equation models describe factors associated with virtual care.  Results There were 146,372 visits provided by 154 primary care providers between 03/14/20 and 06/30/20, of which 33.6% were virtual care. Female patients (OR 1.16, CI 1.09–1.22), patients with ≥ 3 comorbidities (OR 1.71, CI 1.44–2.02), and patients with ≥ 10 prescriptions (OR 2.71, 2.2–1.53) had higher odds of receiving at least one virtual care visit compared to male patients, patients with no comorbidities and patients with no prescriptions. There was no significant difference between the number of follow-up visits that were provided as a clinic visit compared to a virtual care visit (8.7% vs. 5.8%) (p = 0.6496). Conclusion Early in the pandemic restrictions, approximately one-third of visits were virtual. Virtual care was utilized by patients with more comorbidities and prescriptions, suggesting that patients with chronic disease requiring ongoing care utilized virtual care. Virtual care as a primary care visit type continues to evolve. Ongoing provision of virtual care can enhance quality, patient-centered care moving forward.Applied Science, Faculty ofMedicine, Faculty ofNon UBCAllergy and Immunology, Division ofMedicine, Department ofNursing, School ofPediatrics, Department ofReviewedFacultyResearche

Screening for poverty and related social determinants to improve knowledge of and links to resources (SPARK): development and cognitive testing of a tool for primary care

Abstract Background Healthcare organizations are increasingly exploring ways to address the social determinants of health. Accurate data on social determinants is essential to identify opportunities for action to improve health outcomes, to identify patterns of inequity, and to help evaluate the impact of interventions. The objective of this study was to refine a standardized tool for the collection of social determinants data through cognitive testing. Methods An initial set of questions on social determinants for use in healthcare settings was developed by a collaboration of hospitals and a local public health organization in Toronto, Canada during 2011–2012. Subsequent research on how patients interpreted the questions, and how they performed in primary care and other settings led to revisions. We administered these questions and conducted in-depth cognitive interviews with all the participants, who were from Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and Newfoundland and Labrador. Cognitive interviewing was used, with participants invited to verbalize thoughts and feelings as they read the questions. Interview notes were grouped thematically, and high frequency themes were addressed. Results Three hundred and seventy-five individuals responded to the study advertisements and 195 ultimately participated in the study. Although all interviews were conducted in English, participants were diverse. For many, the value of this information being collected in typical healthcare settings was unclear, and hence, we included descriptors for each question. In general, the questions were understood, but participants highlighted a number of ways the questions could be changed to be even clearer and more inclusive. For example, more response options were added to the question of sexual orientation and the “making ends meet” question was completely reworded in light of challenges to understand the informal phrasing cited by English as a Second Language (ESL) users of the tool. Conclusion In this work we have refined an initial set of 16 sociodemographic and social needs questions into a simple yet comprehensive 18-question tool. The changes were largely related to wording, rather than content. These questions require validation against accepted, standardized tools. Further work is required to enable community data governance, and to ensure implementation of the tool as well as the use of its data is successful in a range of organizations

Additional file 1 of Screening for poverty and related social determinants to improve knowledge of and links to resources (SPARK): development and cognitive testing of a tool for primary care

Supplementary Material

Characteristics associated with pediatric growth measurement collection in electronic medical records: a retrospective observational study

Abstract Background Complete growth measurements are an essential part of pediatric care providing a proxy for a child’s overall health. This study describes the frequency of well-child visits, documented growth measurements, and clinic and provider factors associated with measurement. Methods Retrospective cross-sectional study utilizing electronic medical records (EMRs) from primary care clinics between 2015 and 2017 in Manitoba, Canada. This study assessed the presence of recorded height, weight and head circumference among children (0–24 months) who visited one of 212 providers participating in the Manitoba Primary Care Research Network. Descriptive and multivariable logistic regression analyses assessed clinic, provider, and patient factors associated with children having complete growth measurements. Results Our sample included 4369 children. The most frequent growth measure recorded was weight (79.2% n = 3460) followed by height (70.8% n = 3093) and head circumference (51.4% n = 2246). 67.5% of children (n = 2947) had at least one complete growth measurement recorded (i.e. weight, height and head circumference) and 13.7% (n = 599) had complete growth measurements at all well-child intervals attended. Pediatricians had 2.7 higher odds of documenting complete growth measures within well-child intervals compared to family physicians (95% CI 1.8–3.8). Additionally, urban located clinics (OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.2–2.5), Canadian trained providers (OR 2.3, 95% CI 1.4–3.7), small practice size (OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.2–2.2) and salaried providers (OR 3.4, 95% CI 2.2–5.2) had higher odds of documented growth measures. Conclusions Growth measurements are recorded in EMRs but documentation is variable based on clinic and provider factors. Pediatric growth measures at primary care appointments can improve primary prevention and surveillance of child health outcomes