Assessment of reasons for encounter among elderly patients a ending a tertiary hospital in Southern Nigeria.

Abstract

Background: Reasons for encounter refer to the reasons why a patient seeks health care. Understanding individual expectations makes it possible for an individualized response that patients value and which determines 
the effectiveness of treatment. Assessment of reasons for encounter among geriatric patients in a primary care setting may provide an interesting perspective. The aim of this study was to assess the reasons for encounter among elderly patients a ending the Geriatric Clinic of a hospital in southern Nigeria.

Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in which two hundred and fifty new patients aged 65 years and above were recruited over three months. A questionnaire was used to obtain sociodemographic data. Reasons for encounter data was collected using a structured checklist based on second version of the International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC-2-E). SPSS version 18 was used for data analysis.

Results: Participants' age ranged from 65 years to 99 years with mean age of 72.3 ± 7.33 years. There were 140 females and 110 males with a female to male ratio of 1.2:1. A total of 1,457 Reasons for encounters were seen 
among the 250 participants. This gave an average of six reasons for encounter per participant. The top three commonest reasons for encounter among the chapters were related to the musculoskeletal system, digestive 
system and cardiovascular system.

Conclusion: This study shows the frequency and distribution of health complaints in the elderly commonly encountered in primary care. This is a reflection of the individual patients' perceived needs, and priorities 
regarding their health problem in our practice setting. 
Contribution: Understanding the reasons for encounter across a primary care population is essential for the development of people-centred health services.