Demographic and Disease Patterns at a Primary Healthcare Setting

The assessment of disease pattern and burden in a defined population based on the symptomatology as well as the organic presentation is quite fruitful. Objectives: This study was designed to determine demographic characteristics and disease patterns related to different organ systems presenting at first tier of primary healthcare system. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using Basic Health Units (BHU) Outdoor Patient Department (OPD) database retrospectively in order to determine the age, gender and organ system wise distribution of various diseases. Secondary data was collected from standard OPD register in which all patients that presented in the outpatient department of the facility during a period of 6 months from 1st January, 2017 to 30th June, 2017 were included and no patient was excluded. Results: Out of total 2357 patients, 1024 (43.4%) were males and 1333 (56.6%) were females. Most of the patients 1057 (44.8%) belonged to the age group of 15-49 years whereas only 96 (4.1%) were less than one year old. About 2204 patients (93.5%) presented for the first time to the BHU and 153 patients (6.5%) were follow-up patients. Majority of patients 735 (31.2%) presented with symptoms of respiratory system. Certain systems were more involved in females than males like musculoskeletal system (257 v/s 113), respiratory system (377 v/s 358) and especially the genitourinary system (50 v/s 5). Conclusions: Addressing and treating the diseases presenting at this basic level (BHU) can prove to be very useful in reducing patient load at the level of tertiary care and teaching hospitals.