{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,9]],"date-time":"2026-04-09T13:48:45Z","timestamp":1775742525537,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,9]],"date-time":"2026-04-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1775692800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Long COVID presents a novel and emerging public health challenge. As the first point of contact, general practitioners (GPs) play a key role in diagnosing and coordinating the care of patients presenting with post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC), despite a lack of experience. This study aimed to identify the main difficulties encountered by GPs in Franche-Comt\u00e9, France, in managing adult outpatients with long COVID. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey using an anonymous online questionnaire, which contained 21 questions and was distributed to GPs in Franche-Comt\u00e9, France. The survey assessed definition, diagnostic and therapeutic challenges in managing long COVID. Results: Among the 410 questionnaires distributed, 90 general practitioners (GPs) responded (response rate: 21.9%). The mean age of participants was 34 \u00b1 10 years, and 64.4% were women (n = 58). Regarding knowledge of long COVID, three participants (3.3%) did not recognize it as a distinct clinical entity, while more than half (58.9%, n = 53) reported insufficient knowledge. The main challenges identified were therapeutic management (76.7%, n = 69) and diagnosis (75.6%, n = 68). Only 4.5% of respondents (n = 4) reported no difficulty in defining post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC). The most frequently reported diagnostic difficulty was distinguishing long COVID from differential diagnoses (93.3%, n = 83\/89), particularly fibromyalgia (94.3%, n = 83\/88). Only 37.1% of participants (n = 33\/89) reported actively following up patients with PASC. During initial management, the main challenge was the difficulty in objectively assessing patients\u2019 complaints using available diagnostic tools (80.7%, n = 67\/83). Additionally, a large majority of GPs reported difficulties in addressing patients\u2019 questions (86.7%, n = 72\/83) and managing associated anxiety disorders (75.9%, n = 63\/83). Conclusions: These findings highlight the immediate need to enhance GP training in Franche-Comt\u00e9, France, in dealing with long COVID. Improvements such as harmonizing long COVID definitions, testing diagnoses, and strengthening interdisciplinary coordination are essential to provide coherent and patient-centered care for this disease.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm15082855","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,9]],"date-time":"2026-04-09T12:21:32Z","timestamp":1775737292000},"page":"2855","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Current Difficulties for General Practitioners in the Diagnosis and Management of Long COVID Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study Assessing an Online Questionnaire"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Cl\u00e9a","family":"Le Breton","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Department, Nord-Franche-Comt\u00e9 Hospital, 90400 Trevenans, France"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4334-9889","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Timoth\u00e9e","family":"Klopfenstein","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Department, Nord-Franche-Comt\u00e9 Hospital, 90400 Trevenans, France"},{"name":"Clinical Research Unit, Nord-Franche-Comt\u00e9 Hospital, 90400 Trevenans, France"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3177-9806","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Souheil","family":"Zayet","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Department, Nord-Franche-Comt\u00e9 Hospital, 90400 Trevenans, France"},{"name":"Infectious Diseases, Infection Prevention and Control Department, H\u00f4pitaux Robert Schuman, 2540 Luxembourg City, Luxembourg"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"20","article-title":"COVID-19 pandemic: From origins to outcomes. 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