文章基本信息

标题：Frequent use of primary health care service in Greenland: an opportunity for undiagnosed disease case-finding
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作者：Michael Lynge Pedersen ; Anne Rolskov ; Jytte Lindskov Jacobsen 等
期刊名称：International Journal of Circumpolar Health
印刷版ISSN：1239-9736
电子版ISSN：2242-3982
出版年度：2012
卷号：71
DOI：10.3402/ijch.v71i0.18431
语种：English
摘要：Objectives: To estimate the age- and gender-specific consultation rates of patients who availed primary health care service in Greenland and to analyse contact patterns among patients in Nuuk.Design: Observational and cross-sectional register study using data captured from the medical records.Materials and methods: The number of patients specified by age and gender who had contacted the primary health care centres within the last year was identified using a statistic module applied to the electronic medical records system. The population as it was on the 1st of January 2011 was used as the background population. The age- and gender-specific consultation rates were calculated. Review of most recent contact was performed in a subsample of patients from Nuuk, and information of the type of contact and diagnoses was obtained.Results: Eighty-three percent of the population in Greenland had been in contact with the primary health care centre within the last year. Females were more frequent users than males. A subsample of 400 patients in Nuuk was identified. Personal contact was the most frequent type of consultation (75.8%), followed by telephone (14.8%) and e-mail (9.8%) consultations. Musculoskeletal symptoms accounted for the most frequent bases for diagnoses.Conclusion: More than 80% of the whole population has been in contact with the primary health care system within the last year. This indicates that opportunistic case-finding of chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, etc. providing a possible strategy for decreasing the number of undiagnosed cases.Keywords: Greenland; Inuit; chronic disease; primary health care(Published: 24 July 2012)Citation: Int J Circumpolar Health 2012, 71: 18431 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v71i0.18431
关键词：Primary health care;Greenland; Inuit; chronic disease; primary health care;patients