Abstract

BARREIRO, Diogo  and  SANTIAGO, Luiz Miguel. Reasons for clinical encounter in General Practice/Family Medicine in 2010 in Central Portugal. Rev Port Med Geral Fam [online]. 2013, vol.29, n.4, pp.236-243. ISSN 2182-5173.

Objectives: To characterize the reasons for consultation in primary care as coded by family physicians. Study design: Descriptive, cross-sectional. Setting: District of Coimbra, Portugal. Participants: Patients visiting health centres in the Coimbra district in 2010. Methods: This study examined 453,388 reasons for consultation recorded in primary care in the district of Coimbra during the year 2010. They were coded using the International Classification for Primary Care, second edition (ICPC-2). Descriptive statistics were obtained using PAWS v19 statistical software. Results: The most frequent reasons for consultation recorded were “general and unspecified” (39.8%), “musculoskeletal system” (9, 9%) and “circulatory system” (8.7%). The most commonly recorded components were “signs and symptoms” (30.8%), “diagnostic and preventive procedures” (20.0%) and “test results” (19.3%). The most frequent signs and symptoms symptoms recorded were “cough” (5.6%), “signs and symptoms in the lumbar region” (4.2%), “signs/symptoms of the throat” (3.5%) and “fever” (3.5%). Conclusions: General and unspecified conditions were found to be the most common reason for consultation in this population.

Keywords : Primary Health Care; Family Practice; Office visit.

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