Recruitment of participants
RECRUITMENT, RECRUITMENT, LONG COVID
The purposive sampling method was used to invite individuals to participate in the study. Potential study participants were PHC patients from the territory of Aragón (Spain), as well as interested parties from the "Long COVID Aragón" association for those affected, who were redirected to their GPs. When the GPs identified potential participants, they were provided with an information document and a form to verify that they met the criteria. Once the informed consent of the patient was obtained, the GPs notified the investigator so that he could contact the interested participants, subsequently reconfirming their inclusion or not according to the established criteria. Therefore, the settings in which the recruitment of potential participants was carried out were PHC offices.
The study population consisted of Long COVID patients (with a positive COVID-19 diagnostic test for longer than the previous twelve weeks and persistent symptoms) and adults (18 years or older). The exclusion criteria were: not having a positive COVID-19 diagnostic test for more than the previous twelve weeks; having a diagnosis of severe uncontrolled illness; significant risk of suicide; pregnancy and lactation; participation in a clinical trial over the past 6 months; existing structured rehabilitative or psychotherapeutic treatment by health professionals and the presence of any medical, psychological or social problems that may significantly interfere with the patient's participation in the study.
Recruitment was carried out consecutively until the estimated sample size was attained. The recruitment time was 3 months, from January to March 2022. A total of 100 PHC patients from the region of Aragon (Spain) were recruited.