scholarly journals Health Complaints in Individual Visiting Primary Health Care: Population-Based National Electronic Health Records of Iran

Author(s):  
Farnaz Khatami ◽  
Mohammad Shariati ◽  
Zahra Abbasi ◽  
Taulant Muka ◽  
Leila Khedmat ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The mission of medical schools is a sustainable commitment to orient education, research, and services based on the priorities and expectations of society. The most common complaints of patients from comprehensive health service centers (CHSCs) based on the data from electronic health records were identified to determine primary health care (PHC) priorities for the educational planning of medical students in Iran. Methods A population-based national study was designed to assess clinical complaints of patients in all age groups who were referred at least once to CHSCs to be visited by physicians. All the data in the census were extracted from electronic health records in PHC system during 2015–2020, classified by the International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC-2), and statistically analyzed. The total number of complaints that recorded in system was 17,430,139. Results 59% of the referring patients were women. The highest number of referrals was related to the age group of 18–59 years (56.9%), while the lowest belonged to the elderly (13.3%). In all age and sex groups, the first ten complaints of patients with three top priorities in each category included process (follow-up, consultation, and results exam), digestive (toothache and gum complaint, abdominal pain, and diarrhea), respiratory (cough, sore throat, and runny nose), general (fever, pain, and weakness and fatigue), musculoskeletal (back pain, leg complaint, and knee injuries), endocrine and nutritional (weight gain, Feeding problem, and weight loss), cardiovascular (hypertension, palpitations, and Postural hypotension), neurological (headache, dizziness, and paralysis), sexual dysfunction (vaginal complaint, discharge, and irregular menstruation), and dermatological (pruritus, rash, and inflammation). Conclusion High priorities in referring to PHC had a key role in assessing the country's health needs. Since this study was in line with the national pattern of complaints and patients' profile, the present findings can be helpful to amend policy-making, educational planning and curricula development in medical schools.

Author(s):  
Hanan Khudadad ◽  
Lukman Thalib

Background: Antibiotics are antimicrobial drugs used in the treatment and prevention of bacterial infections. They played a pivotal role in achieving major advances in medicine and surgery (1). Yet, due to increased and inappropriate use of antibiotics, antibiotic resistance (AR) has become a growing public health problem. Information on antibiotic prescription patterns are vital in developing a constructive approach to deal with growing antibiotic resistance (2). The study aims to describe the population based antibiotic prescriptions among patients attending primary care centers in Qatar. Methodology: A population based observational study of all medications prescribed in the all Primary Health Care Centers during the period of 2017-2018 in Qatar. Records with all medication prescriptions were extracted and linked to medical diagnosis. Antibiotics prescriptions records were compared to non- antibiotics records using logistic regression model in identifying the potential predictors for antibiotic prescriptions. Results: A total of 11,069,439 medication prescriptions given over a period of two-years, we found about 12.1% (n= 726,667) antibiotics prescriptions were antibiotics, and 65% of antibiotics are prescribed and received by the patients at the first visits. Paracetamol (22.3%) was the first highest medication prescribed followed by antibiotics (12.1 %) and vitamin D2 (10.2 %). More than half of all antibiotics prescribed during the period of January 2017 to December 2018 were Penicillin (56.9%). We found that half of the antibiotics (49.3 %) have been prescribed for the respiratory system comparing to the other body system. We found that males were 29% more likely be given an antibiotic compared to females (OR=1.29, 95% CI= 1.24- 1.33). Implications: The study provides a baseline data to enable PHCC management to design effective intervention program to address the problem of antibiotics resistance. Furthermore, it will help the policymakers to comprehend the size of the issue and develop a system to manage the antibiotics therapy. Conclusion: Antibiotics was the second highest medication prescribed in the Primary Health Care Centers in Qatar after paracetamol and most of the patients received it at the first visit. Most of the prescriptions in Primary Health Care Centers in Qatar were for the respiratory system, and Penicillin was the highest class prescribed. Male visitors were prescribed antibiotics more than female visitors.


2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Stablein ◽  
Joseph Lorenzo Hall ◽  
Chauna Pervis ◽  
Denise L. Anthony

Author(s):  
Claire M. Campbell ◽  
Daniel R. Murphy ◽  
George E. Taffet ◽  
Anita B. Major ◽  
Christine S. Ritchie ◽  
...  

2006 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth J Comino ◽  
Oshana Hermiz ◽  
Jeff Flack ◽  
Elizabeth Harris ◽  
Gawaine Powell Davies ◽  
...  

Objective: Currently, primary health care (PHC) is under-represented in health statistics due to the lack of a comprehensive PHC data collection. This research explores the utility of population health surveys to address questions relating to access to and use of PHC, using diabetes as an example. Methods: Drawing on published material relating to diabetes management, we developed a conceptual framework of access to and use of quality PHC. Using this framework we examined three recent population-based health surveys ? the 2001 National Health Survey, 2002?03 NSW Health Survey, and AusDiab ? to identify relevant information collection. Results: We identified seven domains comprising aspects of quality PHC for people with diabetes. For each domain we proposed associated indicators. In critiquing the three population health surveys in relation to these indicators, we identified strengths and weaknesses of the data collections. Conclusion: This approach could inform the development of questions and extension of population health surveys to provide a better understanding of access to and use of quality PHC in Australia. The additional information would complement other data collections with a communitybased perspective and contribute to the develop- ment of PHC policy.


Author(s):  
Hsin Ma ◽  
Feng-Yuan Chu ◽  
Tzeng-Ji Chen ◽  
Shinn-Jang Hwang

The quality and quantity of papers published in journals play a crucial role in achieving an academic promotion in medical schools. Reports on the criteria for promotion and their impact on different specialties, especially on primary health care, which has low research output, are rare. We investigated the scoring systems generally adopted for academic promotion at most medical schools in Taiwan. The weighted scores were derived from the multiplication of weights from categories of paper, journal impact factor, or ranking in a certain category by impact factor, and author order. To determine the thresholds of papers required for different levels of promotion, we took papers in the highest- or lowest-ranked journals in the primary health care category in 2019 Journal Citation Reports as examples. Considering publications in the highest-ranked journals, a median of 4.6 first or corresponding author papers were required for a professorship, as well as 3.3 for an associate professorship, and 2.5 for an assistant professorship. In contrast, a median of 30, 20, and 13.5 papers in the lowest-ranked journals was required for the corresponding positions. Thus, academic promotions for primary health care educators in Taiwan are highly demanding. The detrimental effects of scoring systems deserve further research.


2012 ◽  
pp. 1403-1424
Author(s):  
Alejandro Enrique Flores ◽  
Khin Than Win ◽  
Willy Susilo

Protecting the confidentiality of a patient’s information in a shared care environment could become a complex task. Correct identification of users, assigning of access permissions, and resolution of conflict rise as main points of interest in providing solutions for data exchange among health care providers. Traditional approaches such as Mandatory Access Control, Discretionary Access control and Role-Based Access Control policies do not always provide a suitable solution for health care settings, especially for shared care environments. The core of this contribution consists in the description of an approach which uses attribute-based encryption to protect the confidentiality of patients’ information during the exchange of electronic health records among healthcare providers. Attribute-based encryption allows the reinforcing of access policies and reduces the risk of unauthorized access to sensitive information; it also provides a set of functionalities which are described using a case study. Attribute-based encryption provides an answer to restrictions presented by traditional approaches and facilitate the reinforcing of existing security policies over the transmitted data.


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