scholarly journals Primary care doctor and nurse consultations among people who live in slums: a retrospective, cross-sectional survey in four countries

BMJ Open ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. e054142
Author(s):  

ObjectivesTo survey on the availability and use of primary care services in slum populations.DesignRetrospective, cross-sectional, household, individual and healthcare provider surveys.SettingSeven slum sites in four countries (Nigeria, Kenya, Pakistan and Bangladesh).ParticipantsResidents of slums and informal settlements.Primary and secondary outcome measuresPrimary care consultation rates by type of provider and facility.ResultsWe completed 7692 household, 7451 individual adult and 2633 individual child surveys across seven sites. The majority of consultations were to doctors/nurses (in clinics or hospitals) and pharmacies rather than single-handed providers or traditional healers. Consultation rates with a doctor or nurse varied from 0.2 to 1.5 visits per person-year, which was higher than visit rates to any other type of provider in all sites except Bangladesh, where pharmacies predominated. Approximately half the doctor/nurse visits were in hospital outpatient departments and most of the remainder were to clinics. Over 90% of visits across all sites were for acute symptoms rather than chronic disease. Median travel times were between 15 and 45 min and the median cost per visit was between 2% and 10% of a household’s monthly total expenditure. Medicines comprised most of the cost. More respondents reported proximity (54%–78%) and service quality (31%–95%) being a reason for choosing a provider than fees (23%–43%). Demand was relatively inelastic with respect to both price of consultation and travel time.ConclusionsPeople in slums tend to live sufficiently close to formal doctor/nurse facilities for their health-seeking behaviour to be influenced by preference for provider type over distance and cost. However, costs, especially for medicines are high in relation to income and use rates remain significantly below those of high-income countries.

2014 ◽  
Vol 200 (3) ◽  
pp. 170-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna H Yeung ◽  
Meredith Temple‐Smith ◽  
Christopher K Fairley ◽  
Alaina M Vaisey ◽  
Rebecca Guy ◽  
...  

BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. e027830
Author(s):  
Javiera Leniz ◽  
Martin C Gulliford

ObjectivesExplore factors related to continuity of care and its association with diabetes and hypertensive care, and disease control.DesignCross-sectional study.SettingData from the Chilean Health National Survey 2009–2010.ParticipantsRegular users of primary care services aged 15 or older.Primary and secondary outcome measuresProportion of hypertensive and diabetic patients with a blood pressure <140/90 mm Hg and HbA1c<7.0% respectively, self-report of diagnosis, treatment and recent foot and ophthalmological exams. Associations between continuity of care, sociodemographic characteristics, and primary and secondary outcomes were explored using logistic regression.Results3887 primary care service users were included. 14.7% recognised a usual GP, 82.3% of them knew their name. Continuity of care was positively associated with age >65 years (OR 4.81, 95% CI 3.16 to 7.32), being female (OR 1.66, 95% CI 1.34 to 2.05), retired (OR 2.22, 95% CI 1.75 to 2.83), obese (OR 1.66, 95% CI 1.29 to 2.14), high cardiovascular risk (OR 2.98, 95% CI 2.13 to 4.17) and widowed (OR 1.50, 95% CI 1.13 to 1.99), and negatively associated with educational level (8–12 vs <8 years OR 0.79, 95% CI 0.64 to 0.97), smoking (OR 0.65, 95% CI 0.52 to 0.82) and physical activity (OR 0.76, 95% CI 0.61 to 0.95). Continuity of care was associated with diagnosis awareness (OR 2.83, 95% CI 1.21 to 6.63), pharmacological treatment (OR 2.04, 95% CI 1.15 to 3.63) and a recent foot (OR 3.17, 95% CI 1.84 to 5.45) and ophthalmological exam (OR 3.20, 95% CI 1.66 to 6.18) in diabetic but not in hypertensive patients.ConclusionsContinuity of care was associated with higher odds of having a recent foot and ophthalmological exam in patients with diabetes, but not with better diseases control. Findings suggest patients with chronic conditions have better continuity of care access.


BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. e023283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Carlos Nascimento ◽  
Simone Tetü Moysés ◽  
Renata Iani Werneck ◽  
Marilisa Carneiro Leão Gabardo ◽  
Samuel Jorge Moysés

ObjectivesTo compare two different models of public oral health in primary care services, a so-called family health strategy (FHS), as opposed to non-FHS services designated as ‘conventional’ healthcare (CHC), regarding the presence and extent of the attributes of ‘good’ primary healthcare (PHC). The null hypothesis of this study is that the attributes do not differ between the FHS and CHC.DesignCross-sectional.SettingPublic PHC services in Curitiba, the state capital of Paraná.ParticipantsPHC users of the public oral health network (n=900) and dentists active in this municipal network (n=203).Primary and secondary outcome measuresThe Primary Care Assessment Tool (PCATool)-Dentists and PCATool-Users were used to analyse the primary outcomes (‘essential’ attributes) and secondary outcomes (‘derived’ attributes) in the PHC.ResultsOverall, the primary care services in oral health were well evaluated, both by users and by dentists, with mean scores ascribed to PHC attributes mostly above the cut-off point (6.6). The exception for users were affiliation (6.36; 95% CI 6.11 to 6.60) and accessibility (5.83; 95% CI 5.78 to 5.89); and for dentists the accessibility (5.80; 95% CI 5.63 to 5.96). When comparing FHS and CHC, there was a superiority of the FHS model, which reached a general mean score of 7.53 (95% CI 7.48 to 7.58) among users and 7.56 (95% CI 7.45 to 7.67) among dentists; on the other hand, the CHC general mean score was of 6.61 (95% CI 6.49 to 6.73) and 6.68 (95% CI 6.56 to 6.80) respectively for users and dentists.ConclusionsThe results reveal a reasonable level of attainment of PHC attributes in the services investigated. Nevertheless, public health managers should make efforts to reduce the difficulties faced by users in accessing dental care. The more positive results achieved by FHS services indicate that the provision of oral healthcare under this strategy should be expanded.


2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marleen Smits ◽  
Ellen Keizer ◽  
Paul Giesen ◽  
Ellen Catharina Tveter Deilkås ◽  
Dag Hofoss ◽  
...  

2010 ◽  
Vol 99 (7) ◽  
pp. 1060-1064 ◽  
Author(s):  
DM Haller ◽  
P Sebo ◽  
B Cerutti ◽  
D Bertrand ◽  
A Eytan ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marek Oleszczyk ◽  
Anna Krztoń-Królewiecka ◽  
Willemijn L. A. Schäfer ◽  
Wienke G. W. Boerma ◽  
Adam Windak

Community level health seeking behavior needs investigation since community plays either protective or pathogenic role to health. This study, therefore, intended to examine the health seeking behavior of Afar using a community based cross-sectional survey design. The survey employed both quantitative and qualitative methods to collect relevant data. The findings revealed that a substantial number of participants have had misconceptions and/or erroneous knowledge about the causes and symptoms of illnesses. Besides, most of the participants preferred treatment service from modern health care institutions. Their choice is significantly associated with age and level of education. Moreover, various factors including cost, distance, attitude toward health, decision-making power on health, perceived satisfaction, social capital and socio-religious behaviour affect the utilization of available health care services. In general, the findings implied the presence of a positive health seeking behavior among Afar that can be further strengthened with interventions. The interventions should address the misconceptions about causes/symptoms of illnesses and promote appropriate hierarchy of resort to the utilization of available health care services.


2018 ◽  
pp. 59-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiago Henriques ◽  
Carlota Quintal

Worldwide, demand for blood and blood products has increased and it is important to work on donor recruitment strategies; and because in developed countries the young have been more reluctant to donate, it is particularly pertinent to assess their motivations. The aim of this study is to assess attitudes, knowledge and motivations regarding blood donation and to identify factors associated with donation among young donors, using a sample of universitystudents. We use a cross‑sectional survey, collected in the city of Coimbra, Portugal, using a self‑administered questionnaire, and adopted descriptive and multiple logistic regression analyses. We found that prevalence of donation is 16.5%. Donation is more likely among students engaged with the community, through volunteering activities, political participation or religion. Altruistic feelings positively affect donation. The odds of donation are 76% lower among students who expressed fear of needles. A traditional barrier, lack of time, is not statistically significant in our study. In the literature, altruistic feelings tend to be associated with older individuals, nonetheless, our results suggest that they play a relevant role even among students. Primary care services might be used to tackle the fear of needles and of the sight of blood at early ages. Time availability of students should be used to the advantage of authorities by promoting convenient collections at, for example, universities as already happens is some cases.


2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyle R. Turner ◽  
Christopher Pearce ◽  
Madeleine Borg ◽  
Adam McLeod ◽  
Marianne Shearer ◽  
...  

After-hours access to general practice (GP) is critical to supporting accessibility and reducing emergency department demand. To understand who utilises after-hours GP services, this study examined the characteristics of presentations to an Eastern Melbourne after-hours clinic between 2005 and 2014. Descriptive analyses of patient and presentation characteristics, diagnoses, medications and pathology were conducted. Across the study period, 39.1% of presentations to the clinic (N=64,800) were by patients under 18 years of age. Females were found to attend more often than males, and nearly 79% of patients attended only once. The most common diagnoses were respiratory system diseases (13.4%), gastrointestinal system diseases (12.6%) and eye and ear problems (11.6%). Antibacterial medications accounted for over half (53.0%) of all prescriptions, with 34% of antibiotics prescribed to patients under 18 years of age. Seasonal variation in GP demand was also observed. Presenting patients differed from the wider GP patient population, with more young patients, and a higher proportion of prescriptions for antibacterial medications compared to other predominantly non-after-hours practices. Further research is required to understand the health-seeking, decision-making of patients who utilise after-hours GPs over predominantly non-after-hours primary care services, to inform service promotion and delivery strategies.


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