Magnitud y características de la consulta externa atendida por médico generalista en centros sanitarios periféricos

Abstract

The proportional development of the General and the Specialized Practitioners is studied in this paper. Besides, the very weak association between this proportionality and the morbility to be resolved at the first level of the Health Care System (80 to 93%) is considered. The goal of the first pan of the research was to establish the amount and the peculiar qualities of the medical visits performed by the General Practitioners at the Primary Health Care centers placed outside La Plata city (Argentina). The variables studied were the opportunities and the causes of the medical visits, codified by the International Classification of Illness (I.C.I., O.M.S., 1979). The most important amount of visits were due to morbility. The prevailing demand was related to life conditions associated morbidity. The respiratory tract infections predominated, followed by the gastrointestinal ones. On the other hand, the preventive medical visits were principally done by mothers and children. Only a few preventive visits belonged to the group of the examinations performed by adult persons without perceived morbidity. The concentration of the visits resulted very reduced because of the incompetence of the actual Health Care System to retain the patients within the first level. A higher concentration was observed in the group of the preventive visits, which represented the 20% of the total demand. Female predominance of total demand was remarkable. Anyway, obstetric motives should be considered in order to establish the real extent of this predominance.