{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,23]],"date-time":"2026-10-23T21:16:38Z","timestamp":1792790198025,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":25,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,20]],"date-time":"2023-04-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1681948800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"HeLaBa, Frankfurt\/Main, Germany"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Viruses"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Many patients with ongoing complaints after a SARS-CoV-2 infection are treated in primary care. Existing medical guidelines on how to diagnose and treat Long-\/Post-COVID are far from being comprehensive. This study aims to describe how German general practitioners (GPs) deal with this situation, what problems they experience when managing such patients, and how they solve problems associated with the diagnosis and treatment of Long-\/Post-COVID. Methods and Findings: We conducted a qualitative study and interviewed 11 GPs. The most commonly described symptoms were ongoing fatigue, dyspnea, chest tightness and a decrease in physical capacity. The most common way to identify Long-\/Post-COVID was by exclusion. Patients suffering from Long-\/Post-COVID were generally treated by their GPs and rarely referred. A very common non-pharmacological intervention was to take a wait-and-see approach and grant sick leave. Other non-pharmacological interventions included lifestyle advices, physical exercise, acupuncture and exercises with intense aromas. Pharmacological treatments focused on symptoms, like respiratory symptoms or headaches. Our study\u2019s main limitations are the small sample size and therefore limited generalizability of results. Conclusions: Further research is required to develop and test pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical interventions for patients with Long-\/Post-COVID. In addition, strategies to prevent the occurrence of Long-\/Post-COVID after an acute infection with SARS-CoV-2 have to be developed. The routine collection of data on the diagnosis and management of Long-\/Post-COVID may help in the formulation of best practices. It is up to policymakers to facilitate the necessary implementation of effective interventions in order to limit the huge societal consequences of large groups of patients suffering from Long-\/Post-COVID.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/v15041016","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,21]],"date-time":"2023-04-21T01:33:43Z","timestamp":1682040823000},"page":"1016","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":28,"title":["How do German General Practitioners Manage Long-\/Post-COVID? A Qualitative Study in Primary Care"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3592-7354","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Beatrice E.","family":"Bachmeier","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Pharmaceutical Biology, Goethe-University, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Salome","family":"H\u00f6lzle","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Pharmaceutical Biology, Goethe-University, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mohamed","family":"Gasser","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Pharmaceutical Biology, Goethe-University, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1022-8637","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marjan","family":"van den Akker","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of General Practice, Goethe University, 60590 Frankfurt am Main, Germany"},{"name":"Department of Family Medicine, Care and Public Health Research Institute, Maastricht University, 6229 ER Maastricht, The Netherlands"},{"name":"Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Academic Centre of General Practice, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"139","DOI":"10.3233\/HAB-200420","article-title":"Global burden of COVID-19: Situational analyis and review","volume":"29","author":"Gebru","year":"2021","journal-title":"Hum. 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