Wojczewski, Silvia, Mayrhofer, Mira, Szabo, Nathalie et al. · BMC public health · 2024 · DOI
This study asked 30 Austrian general practitioners (GPs) about their experiences diagnosing and treating Long-COVID patients during 2022. All GPs had seen Long-COVID patients, but many found treatment frustrating because patients often didn't improve significantly, and costs were high. The study found that GPs working in teams and those in cities with specialist networks managed Long-COVID more easily.
This study is significant because it documents real gaps in primary care recognition of key ME/CFS features (particularly post-exertional malaise and autonomic dysfunction) during the early Long-COVID era, highlighting the urgent need for GP education and specialist care pathways. Understanding what frontline physicians miss or misunderstand is essential for improving diagnostic accuracy and care for both Long-COVID and ME/CFS patients.
This qualitative study does not prove causation or prevalence rates of Long-COVID or its symptom subtypes in the Austrian population. It describes GP perceptions and experiences rather than objective clinical outcomes or diagnostic accuracy, and the non-mention of specific syndromes may reflect interview framing rather than true absence of recognition. The study cannot establish the effectiveness of any particular treatment approach.
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
Wojczewski, Silvia, Mayrhofer, Mira, Szabo, Nathalie, Rabady, Susanne, & Hoffmann, Kathryn (2024). "A bit of a cough, tired, not very resilient - is that already Long-COVID?" perceptions and experiences of GPs with Long-COVID in year three of the pandemic. a qualitative interview study in Austria.. BMC public health. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-20475-z
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-wojczewski-2024-bit-cough,
author = {Wojczewski, Silvia and Mayrhofer, Mira and Szabo, Nathalie and Rabady, Susanne and Hoffmann, Kathryn},
title = {"A bit of a cough, tired, not very resilient - is that already Long-COVID?" perceptions and experiences of GPs with Long-COVID in year three of the pandemic. a qualitative interview study in Austria.},
journal = {BMC public health},
year = {2024},
doi = {10.1186/s12889-024-20475-z},
note = {PubMed: 39511549},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/wojczewski-2024-bit-cough},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/wojczewski-2024-bit-cough
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