Bavarian ambulatory Covid-19 monitor (BaCoM)
The "Bavarian Outpatient Covid-19 Monitor (BaCoM)" was initiated to map the living situation of people in need of care and support in Bavaria during the Covid-19 pandemic. BaCoM was funded by the Bavarian State Ministry of Health, Care and Prevention. Under the leadership of the Institute of General Medicine at the Ludwig Maximilian University Hospital in Munich, a scientific consortium was formed from the Institutes of General Medicine at the University Hospitals in Würzburg and Erlangen, the Catholic University of Applied Sciences Munich, the Department of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, the Institute of Laboratory Medicine at the LMU Hospital and the Institute of Sociology at LMU.
For the study, between March 2021 and December 2023, participants with care or support needs in home or inpatient care with a positive SARS-CoV-2 test were interviewed and examined around the study centers in Munich, Würzburg and Erlangen about the physical and psychological consequences of their illness. For comparison, affected persons without infection or SARS-CoV-2 infected persons without care needs were examined, so that a total of N=1018 people's data is now available.
In addition, around 500 carers, relatives and general practitioners caring for those affected were interviewed about their experiences, restrictions and problems during the pandemic and the structural conditions in the relevant care facilities and households were investigated.
The study was designed for a period of three years with six-monthly follow-up surveys in order to be able to map the long-term consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic for all stakeholders. The survey work is now largely complete.
Members of the BaCoM study group
Principal Investigator and Co-Principal Investigators: Jochen Gensichen* (PI), Tobias Dreischulte*, Ildikó Gágyor*, Anita Hausen, Michael Hoelscher, Christian Janke, Thomas Kühlein*, Armin Nassehi, Daniel Teupser
Florian Arend, Felix Bader, Laura Baumgartner, Barbara Daubner, Christine Eidenschink, Dorothea Fichtl, Johannes Gorkotte, Dagmar Hindenburg, Sylvi Hoffmann, Susann Hueber, Stephanie Kalms, Andrea Körber, Helena Kosub, Peter Kurotschka, Daniela Lindemann, Karoline Lukaschek, Katharina Mayr, Irina Michel, Susan Müller, Britta Pauli, Laura Rink, Marietta Rottenkolber, Linda Sanftenberg, Jennifer Scheel-Barteit, Rita Schwaiger, Maria Sebastia͂o, Elena Seydel, Annette Weber, Sabrina Weigand, Domenika Wildgruber, Susanne Winter, Quynh-Mai Zillmann, Isabel Zöllinger
Doctoral students: Caroline Floto, Andreas Grass, Maresa Gschwendner, Philipp Hennigs, Heidi Hentschel, Anja Hörger, Julian Mayrhuber, Mara Pettke, Sophia Straub, Alexander Theiss
= Study coordination in the recruitment centers
Status February 2024
- Lukaschek K, Hofbauer S, Dreischulte T, Drey M, Rottenkolber M, Winter S, Sebastião M, Teupser D, Gágyor I, Hausen A, Hoelscher M, Janke C, Kühlein T, Gensichen J; BACOM study group. Associations between COVID-19 Severity, Cognitive Impairment, and Quality of Life in Individuals in Need of Care: Results from the Multicenter Registry Study BaCoM. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord Extra 2026. doi: 10.1159/000551288.
- Koch MJ, Kurotschka PK, Holmer D, Eidenschink C, Dreischulte T, Hausen A, Hoelscher M, Janke C, Kühlein T, Nassehi A, Teupser D, Gensichen J, Gágyor I. Higher everyday functioning, lower quality of life, and home care are associated with persisting symptoms after a COVID-19 infection in German care recipients. Front Public Health. 2025 May 15;13:1559778. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1559778.
- Lukaschek K, Hentschel H, Rottenkolber M, Alberer M, Winter S, Sebastião M, Arend F, Dreischulte T, Gágyor I, Hausen A, Hoelscher M, Janke C, Kühlein T, Teupser D, Gensichen J; BACOM Study Group. Association of mental health, quality of life, and SARS-CoV-2 infection in individuals in need of care: Results from a multicentre registry study. PLoS One. 2025 May 9;20(5):e0323017. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0323017.
- Sanftenberg L, Bader F, Rottenkolber M, Sebastiao M, Kühlein T, Eidenschink C, Gágyor I, Wildgruber D, Hausen A, Janke C, Hoelscher M, Teupser D, Dreischulte T, Gensichen J; BACOM study group. Associations of mental health with vaccination readiness in informal caregivers and the vaccination status of their care recipients during the Covid-19 pandemic - A cross sectional analysis. Vaccine. 2024 Sep 17;42(22):126218. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2024.126218.
- Sanftenberg L, Hoerger A, Mayr K, Nassehi A, Wildgruber D, Hausen A, Janke C, Hoelscher M, Hindenburg D, Eidenschink C, Rink L, Sebastião M, Teupser D, Kosub H, Zoellinger I, Dreischulte T, Gensichen J; for the BACOM study group. "...not even in the hallway!" - The subjective perception of institutional measures during the Covid-19 pandemic by nursing home residents. A qualitative study ["...Not Even in The Corridor!" - Subjective Perception Of Institutional Measures During The Covid-19 Pandemic Of Nursing Home Residents: A Qualitative Study]. Health Services. 2024 Mar;86(3):247-253. doi: 10.1055/a-2189-2280. Epub 2024 Feb 9.
- Sanftenberg L, Gschwendner M, Grass A, Rottenkolber M, Zöllinger I, Sebastiao M, Kühlein T, Hindenburg D, Gágyor I, Wildgruber D, Hausen A, Janke C, Hoelscher M, Teupser D, Dreischulte T, Gensichen J, On Behalf Of The Bacom Study Group. Associations of Mental Health Issues with Health Literacy and Vaccination Readiness against COVID-19 in Long-Term Care Facilities-A Cross-Sectional Analysis. Eur J Investig Health Psychol Educ. 2024 Feb 20;14(3):432-446. doi: 10.3390/ejihpe14030029.
- Gensichen J, Zöllinger I, Gagyor I, Hausen A, Hölscher M, Janke C, Kühlein T, Nassehi A, Teupser D, Arend FM, Eidenschink C, Hindenburg D, Kosub H, Kurotschka PK, Lindemann D, Mayr K, Müller S, Rink L, Rottenkolber M, Sanftenberg L, Schwaiger R, Sebastião M, Wildgruber D, Dreischulte T; BaCoM Study group. Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people in need of care or support: protocol for a SARS-CoV-2 registry. BMJ Open. 2023 May 16;13(5):e071134. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-071134.
- Dreischulte T, Sanftenberg L, Hennigs P, Zöllinger I, Schwaiger R, Floto C, Sebastiao M, Kühlein T, Hindenburg D, Gagyor I, Wildgruber D, Hausen A, Janke C, Hölscher M, Teupser D, Gensichen J, On Behalf Of The Bacom Study Group. Detecting Medication Risks among People in Need of Care: Performance of Six Instruments. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Jan 28;20(3):2327. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20032327.
