Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on School-Based Medical Services in Austria.

IF 1.8 4区医学 Q2 EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Journal of School Health Pub Date : 2025-08-26 DOI:10.1111/josh.70069

Walter Hyll

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic affected school students in several ways, including mental health issues, physical activity, or education. The objective of this paper is to shed light on an underexplored aspect of the pandemic by estimating its impact on the provision and utilization of routine school-based medical services by school doctors in Austria.

Methods: We utilize survey-based data on school medical services collected by the Austrian Ministry of Education, Science and Research in the 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 school years. We compare both years using fixed-effects regression.

Results: In the 2019/20 school year, compared to 2018/19, we observe a decline in engagement of school health professionals in health-promoting school projects (-4.3%-points) and in first-aid training sessions (-8.6%-points). Most networking activities with other school-based advisory teams decreased; only membership of a school-based crisis team increased (+6.9%-points). The share of compulsory check-ups (-24.8%-points) and student-initiated medical consultations (-17.7%-points) decreased significantly.

Implications for school health policy, practice, and equity: Findings outline the need for strategies to provide school-based medical services in crises, especially in countries where school health professionals are key points of contact for medical concerns.

Conclusions: Our results indicate a significant reduction in routine school medical services during the pandemic.

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新冠肺炎疫情对奥地利校本医疗服务的影响

背景：2019冠状病毒病大流行以多种方式影响在校学生，包括心理健康问题、体育活动或教育。本文的目的是通过估计这一流行病对奥地利校医提供和利用校本常规医疗服务的影响，揭示这一流行病未得到充分探讨的一个方面。方法：利用奥地利教育、科学和研究部收集的2018/2019和2019/2020学年的学校医疗服务调查数据。我们使用固定效应回归对这两年进行比较。结果：在2019/20学年，与2018/19学年相比，我们观察到学校卫生专业人员参与健康促进学校项目（-4.3%）和急救培训课程（-8.6%）的人数下降。与其他校本咨询小组的联络活动减少；只有以学校为基础的危机小组成员增加了（+6.9%）。强制体检（-24.8%）和学生主动就医（-17.7%）的比例大幅下降。对学校卫生政策、实践和公平的影响：调查结果概述了在危机中，特别是在学校卫生专业人员是医疗问题关键联络点的国家，需要制定以学校为基础的医疗服务战略。结论：我们的研究结果表明，在大流行期间，常规学校医疗服务显著减少。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of School Health 医学-公共卫生、环境卫生与职业卫生

CiteScore

3.70

自引率

9.10%

发文量

134

审稿时长

6-12 weeks

期刊介绍： Journal of School Health is published 12 times a year on behalf of the American School Health Association. It addresses practice, theory, and research related to the health and well-being of school-aged youth. The journal is a top-tiered resource for professionals who work toward providing students with the programs, services, and environment they need for good health and academic success.