A comparison of morbidity patterns in public and private primary care clinics in Malaysia
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2011
Abstract
Objectives: To compare the morbidity patterns in public and private primary care clinics; determine patients' reasons for encounter (RFE) and diagnoses using the ICPC-2, and compare ten commonest diagnoses and RFEs. Methods: A cross-sectional study on randomly selected clinics was conducted nationwide. Doctors completed the Patient Encounter Record (PER) for systematically selected encounters for a week. Results: Response rate was 82.0 (public clinic) and 33 (private clinic) with 4262 encounters and 7280 RFE. Overall, the three commonest disease categories encountered were respiratory (37.2), general and unspecified (29.5), and cardiovascular diseases (22.2). Public and private clinics handled 27 versus 50 acute cases and 20.0 versus 3.1 chronic cases i.e. 33.7 and 5.6 chronic diseases/100 RFE respectively. Conclusion: Doctors in public clinics saw more chronic and complex diseases as well as pregnancy related complaints and follow-up cases while in private clinics more acute and minor illnesses were seen. Health services should be integrated and support given to co-manage chronic diseases in both sectors. © Academy of Family Physicians of Malaysia.
Keywords
Delivery of health care, Malaysia, Morbidity pattern, Primary practice, Reasons for encounter
Divisions
fac_med
Publication Title
Malaysian Family Physician
Volume
6
Issue
1
Publisher
Academy of Family Physicians of Malaysia
Additional Information
Cited By (since 1996):3 Export Date: 19 May 2014 Source: Scopus Language of Original Document: English Correspondence Address: Mimi, O.; Klinik Kesihatan Kelana Jaya, Jalan SS6/3A, 47301 Kelana Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia; email: drmimiomar@gmail.com References: Teng, C.L., Aljunid, S.M., Cheah, M., Morbidity and process of care in urban Malaysian general practice: The impact of payment system (2003) Med J Malaysia, 58 (3), pp. 365-374; Ensuring cheaper private healthcareKhoo, E.M., A comparative study on the service profiles and practice facilities among urban general practices in east and west Malaysia (2000) Med J Malaysia, 55 (3), pp. 341-346; Aljunid, S.M., Zwi, A.B., Differences in public and private health services in a rural district of Malaysia (1996) Med J Malaysia, 51 (4), pp. 426-436; (1998) ICPC-2 International Classification of Primary Care, , International Classification Committee of WONCA, 2nd ed. Oxford University Press; Okkes, I., Jamoulle, M., Lamberts, H., ICPC-2-E: The electronic version of ICPC-2. Differences from the printed version and the consequences (2000) Fam Pract, 17 (2), pp. 101-107; Tan, H.S., Reasons for visiting a hospital-based general medical clinic (1985) Med J Malaysia, 40 (3), pp. 211-219; de Silva, N., Mendis, K., One-day general practice morbidity survey in Sri Lanka (1998) Fam Pract, 15 (4), pp. 323-331; (2008) The Third National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS III), 1, p. 2006. , Institute for Public Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia; Emmanuel, S.C., Phua, H.P., Cheong, P.Y., 2001 survey on primary medical care in Singapore (2004) Singapore Med J, 45 (5), pp. 199-213; Malaysian burden of disease and injury study (2004) Health Prioritization: Burden of Disease Approach, , Division of Burden of Disease, Institute of Public Health, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia;