Gölz, Lea Alexandra, Poß-Doering, Regina, Merle, Uta et al. · Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025 · DOI
Researchers interviewed 14 patients attending a specialized Long COVID clinic in Germany to understand their experiences with care. Patients reported that while the clinic staff were knowledgeable and compassionate, many experienced a worsening of symptoms after their visit (a pattern called post-exertional malaise), and most wanted more follow-up appointments to manage their condition.
This study directly addresses patient experiences with specialized Long COVID care in a healthcare system, providing crucial feedback on what works and what doesn't in dedicated clinics. Understanding these barriers and successes can inform improvements to Long COVID care infrastructure globally, potentially reducing harm and improving patient outcomes.
This study does not prove that specialized clinics are ineffective—only that current models may need adaptation. Being cross-sectional and qualitative, it cannot establish causation or generalize findings beyond this specific clinic setting. The small sample size (14 patients) limits broader applicability to other regions or healthcare systems.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Gölz, Lea Alexandra, Poß-Doering, Regina, Merle, Uta, Wensing, Michel, & Stengel, Sandra (2025). Patient Perspectives on the Care in a Long COVID Outpatient Clinic-A Regional Qualitative Analysis from Germany.. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland). https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare13070818
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-glz-2025-patient-perspectives,
author = {Gölz, Lea Alexandra and Poß-Doering, Regina and Merle, Uta and Wensing, Michel and Stengel, Sandra},
title = {Patient Perspectives on the Care in a Long COVID Outpatient Clinic-A Regional Qualitative Analysis from Germany.},
journal = {Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland)},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.3390/healthcare13070818},
note = {PubMed: 40218114},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/glz-2025-patient-perspectives},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-25. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/glz-2025-patient-perspectives
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