Abstract
Background: In the public sector in Qatar, the Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) is the major provider of primary healthcare services to families. Therefore, the PHCC conducted the first epidemiological health assessment to understand the burden of diseases and their subsequent risk factors impacting its registered population, to design better services, implement it and allocate resources to respond to the population health needs.Methods: A cross-sectional study design was adopted among all PHCC registered populations between September 1, 2018, and August 31, 2019. The study target population was all persons residing in Qatar aged 0+ years and registered at the 27 health centers affiliated with the PHCC; excluding patients with an expired residence permit on August 31, 2019, and craft male workers were provided their primary healthcare services at the Qatar Red Crescent health facilities. The data were extracted from patients’ electronic medical records (EMR).Results: The burden of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia were the highest among the population of the central region at 13.9%, 15.7%, and 11.1%, respectively. Tobacco consumption among males was higher than females and ranged from 25.4% to 27.8%, with the highest rate in the northern region. Obesity rates ranged between 34.7% and 37.0% among the total population registered with the lowest rate in the central region, while 39.9% of females in the northern region had a body mass index above 30 kg/m2. Exclusive breastfeeding at 6 months was significantly lower than that at 4 months across all regions. Children in the northern region had the highest rate of overweight/obesity based on Z-scores. The western region population had the highest number of communicable diseases notifications.Conclusion: Understanding the patterns of disease in the local population will enable the PHCC to plan a clear set of services that meet the population's health needs, which include tailored health education and promotion components.
Highlights
Recent demographic and epidemiological trends point to populations living longer and with higher disease burden worldwide.[1]
The target population was all persons residing in Qatar aged 0þ years and registered at the health centers affiliated with the Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC), a total of 1,247,183 person
Depression rates ranged between 0.6% and 0.8% among the total population across the three regions with the highest rate identified among females registered in the central region at 1.1%
Summary
Recent demographic and epidemiological trends point to populations living longer and with higher disease burden worldwide.[1]. In 2019, the total population was 2,666,938 inhabitants,4 10% were Qataris and 90% were expatriates from various nationalities.[5] The diversity of the expatriate population might be challenging for healthcare services planning. In the public sector in Qatar, the Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) is the major provider of primary healthcare services to families. The PHCC conducted the first epidemiological health assessment to understand the burden of diseases and their subsequent risk factors impacting its registered population, to design better services, implement it and allocate resources to respond to the population health needs
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