How to leverage e-health to transform the patient/healthcare provider relationship: the case of Long-Covid
1|Marwa el Zein|Humans Matter|Humans Matter|France|
2|Valentine Facque|Humans Matter|Humans Matter|France|
3|Alexandre Beaussier|Humans Matter|Humans Matter|France|
4|Laurent Sadeg|Humans Matter|Humans Matter|France|
5|Marion Leboyer|Inserm|IMRB|France|
The estimated incidence of long COVID ranges from 10% to 30% for individuals who were not hospitalized during the acute phase, 50–70% for hospitalised patients, and 10–12% for vaccinated individuals after acute infection . Long covid is polysymptomatic and presents fluctuating clinical manifestations with somatic and psychological harms , as well as social, professional, and financial difficulties . Since 2022, FondaMental foundation offers a platform to inform and assess somatic and psychological disorders for patients with long-term Covid . 936 participants (626 women, mean age of 47,8 years, SD=14,3) completed an initial 18-items questionnaire assessing their disorders in general and answered a question about their general state of health. Based on their answers and thanks to an algorithmic selection, they subsequently accessed validated questionnaires chosen among 20 and exploring different symptoms: general cognitive functioning, behavioral disorders, cognitive complaint, mental complaint, attention deficit, impulsivity, anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, fatigue, post-traumatic stress, perceived stress, social support, coping, personal efficacy, addictions, and agency. Individual reports were provided to each participant in the form of a notebook explaining the scores. Participants were encouraged to download the report for the purpose of discussing it with their caregiver, however, no participant downloaded it. We are currently examining the relations between the gathered scores, which frequently indicate symptoms surpassing the established thresholds. This prompts important discussions about how to connect e-health with physical care, in other words, how can digital assessment or care platforms be integrated in the patient/providers relationship. Indeed, a literature review (74 studies) from 2021 shows that physicians encounter more obstacles than levers when it comes to using e-health, despite its portrayal as a supportive tool for medicine . The doctors’ reluctance in adopting those digital tools may contribute to patients’ hesitancy to share their reports with their health providers.