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Article History

Received: 14 July 2025

Accepted: 28 March 2026

First Online: 2 April 2026

Declarations

:

: The authors declare no competing interests.

: In Germany, surveys relating to social health and care insurance and the associated quality of care can be carried out without obtaining an ethics vote. Sensitive data was not collected. Rather, informal caregivers were asked for their opinion. No human or animal substances and no sensitive disease data were included in the study. This follows from § 92 and § 137 of the Social Code Book V (Code of Social Law V, SGB V), in conjunction with § 4 of the Quality management guideline (Quality management directive for panel doctors’ supply, ÄQM-RL). A cover letter informed the participants about the purpose of the survey and that participating in the study is on a voluntary and anonymous basis. At the beginning of the questionnaire, participants had to explicitly agree to their participation and anonymous data processing by ticking the consent to participate. Otherwise, editing was not possible online. Paper questionnaires without a declaration of consent were excluded from data analysis. By returning the questionnaire, they gave their consent to participate in the study. The survey was conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the Declaration of Helsinki.