Patient Survey on COVID-19
We asked 1,300 patients in our patient survey on their feelings about COVID-19 and how they perceive the status in Germany. These are the answers:
Are patients, especially those at higher risk, worried about COVID-19? How do they perceive the government responses and their own safety in regards to Corona?
We have been asked this kind of questions a lot of times in the past weeks and our impression how patients may think about these kind of issues. This is why we have decided to asked patients who have signed-up at our database about how they perceive the current situation. We have asked patients within four main therapeutic areas (Respiratory, Dermatology, Cardiovascular and Diabetes) and the subsequent disease (e.g. Respiratory -> Asthma and COPD). There was a bigger than we expected turnout with more than 1,200 participants who wanted to have their voice and opinion heard.
We are proud to be able to present to you those results following below after our publication last week (State of clinical research in Germany through COVID-19) and hope these insights will be helpful in the decision making process. For easier sharing purposes, we have created also an infographic which you can download below.
Here is what we asked
Demographic of survey participants
Equal distribution across both genders (58% female / 42% male)
They main participants were patients with a respiratory disease such as Asthma or COPD. Due to their disease, they immediately qualify as people who are at higher risk when infected with COVID-19
Cardiovascular participants were split up in hypertension and artrial fibrillation patients. Dermatology patients in atopic dermatitis, psoriasis and hives
74% of all survey participants are 50 or older
Most of the patients who participated can therefore be included in groups who are at higher risk when they have contracted COVID-19
This also shows the ongoing trend that older patient populations can be easily reached online
Are patients worried because of COVID-19?
Most participants (73%) state that they are worried because of COVID-19
There seems to be no increase in the level of concern in correlation with age or severity of disease based on the data of the participants
Information level and sources
The majority of all participants (76%) state that they feel well informed about the current situation and COVID-19 in general
Patients use on average 3,5 different media sources. Usage of private television is by far the most popular source of information (83% of all patients stated that they use this as information source)
As a result of social distancing, only 24% of patients state that they use a doctor as an information source
Government preparation and patient protection
The majority of our survey participants answered that they don’t think that we are well prepared for COVID-19
There is a positive correlation between the level of people are worried and how good they think the government is prepared. The stronger people are worried, the more they think the government is not well prepared for COVID-19
Close to half of all patients (45%) asked state that they feel well protected by the government measures
When looking at older patient populations (only those >59 years and older) the satisfaction level of government measures increase more than 20% to 56% in total
Social interaction and distancing
Although it was heavily promoted in the news and there have been great contributions by individuals, the majority of survey participants state that they didn’t experience an increased level of neighbourhood help
Most of the patients seem to understand the severity of the situation and seem to follow government guidelines. 91% of all patients asked stated that they practice social distancing
We would like to thank all 1,300 survey participants that enabled us to generate this kind of research. The data has been gathered in March so we all know that a lot has happened since then and such statements are only able to capture the sentiment in a given timeframe.
It is clear to see that patients, especially those at higher risk, seem to take COVID-19 very seriously as proposed by the government and that most of them seem to follow the government suggestions regarding social distancing. Regarding the future, we have to see what those measures may bring and how patients respond, but as a snapshot in time, we are happy to see that so many people act responsibly and care for each other.
