Abstract
BackgroundThe Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has seen an increase in chronic diseases. International evidence suggests that early intervention is the best approach to reduce the burden of chronic disease. However, the limited research available suggests that health care access remains unequal, with rural populations having the poorest access to and utilisation of primary health care centres and, consequently, the poorest health outcomes. This study aimed to examine the factors influencing the access to and utilisation of primary health care centres in urban and rural areas of Riyadh province of the KSA.MethodsA questionnaire survey was carried out to identify the barriers and enablers to accessing PHCS in rural (n = 5) and urban (n = 5) areas of Riyadh province, selected on the classification of the population density of the governorates. An adapted version of the NHS National Survey Programme was administered that included 50 questions over 11 sections that assessed a wide range of factors related to respondent’s access and experience of the PHCS. A total of 935 responses were obtained with 52.9% (n = 495) from urban areas and the remaining 47.1% (n = 440) from rural areas of Riyadh province.ResultsThis study highlights that there are high levels of satisfaction among patients among all PHCS. In relation to differences between urban and rural respondents, the findings indicated that there were significant variations in relation to: education level, monthly income, medical investigations, receiving blood tests on time, extra opening hours, distance, cleanliness and health prevention. Core barriers for rural patients related to the distance to reach PHCS, cleanliness of the PHCS, receiving health prevention and promotion services, which should serve to improve health outcomes.ConclusionsThis study highlighted important differences in access to and utilisation of PHCS between urban and rural populations in Riyadh province in the KSA. These findings have implications for policy and planning of PHCCs and reducing inequalities in health care between rural and urban populations and contributing to a reduction in the chronic disease burden in Riyadh province.
Highlights
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has seen an increase in chronic diseases
One of the core aims of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) is to provide all people throughout the world with equal, unbiased access to and ensure measures are in place to enable utilisation of basic Primary Health Care Services (PHCS) [1]
Current evidence has indicated that KSA has the 7th highest rate of Diabetes Mellitus (DM) in the world [11, 12] alongside markedly increased rates of hypertension and coronary heart disease [13, 14]
Summary
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has seen an increase in chronic diseases. International evidence suggests that early intervention is the best approach to reduce the burden of chronic disease. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) represents a middle Eastern country which has seen an increased chronic disease burden [10]. Current evidence has indicated that KSA has the 7th highest rate of Diabetes Mellitus (DM) in the world [11, 12] alongside markedly increased rates of hypertension and coronary heart disease [13, 14]. This has, led to increased health costs to the government. The current cost of diabetes in estimated at 17 billion Riyals [10] which is expected to increase to 43 billion Riyals [11]
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