Primary Health Care Centers In Riyadh Research Articles

Awareness, knowledge, and practices related to diabetic retinopathy among diabetic patients in primary healthcare centers at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Context:Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a microvascular complication for diabetes mellitus (DM), with around 35% of diabetic patients developing some form of DR.Aims:This study assessed the awareness toward DR, practice of regular eye examination, and DM control among diabetic patients.Settings and Design:This was a cross-sectional study among diabetics at two primary healthcare centers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, who were selected by convenience sampling.Methods and Materials:The questionnaire contained sections for demography, knowledge, attitude, and practice toward DR, and compliance to DM treatment. The association of awareness about retinopathy with demographics was compared.Statistical Analysis Used:The association of awareness about retinopathy and education level with demographics and compliance with treatment were compared using Chi-square test.Results:In total, 280 diabetic patients were included, 187 (67%) were males, mean age was 58.9 ± 10.1 years, and median duration of diabetes was 10 years. There was good awareness about DR, diabetes was well controlled in 170 (61%) patients, but less than half (45%) had their eyes checked within 1 year. Patients with education level of high school and above had higher awareness than those with no formal education (P < 0.001). Also, those with income level >10,000 SR had higher awareness than those with income ≤5,000 SR (P < 0.05).Conclusion:There was high awareness among the diabetic patients regarding DR but annual check-up was done in less than half of the patients. Improvement is required for scheduling annual eye examinations for the early detection of DR.

Determinants of family medicine physicians' knowledge and application of asthma management guidelines at primary healthcare centers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Background:The level of uncontrolled asthma is still high despite the availability of effective treatments and evidence-based guidelines for controlling asthma. Knowledge and adherence to evidence-based guidelines among care providers are crucial to the treatment.Objective:To investigate the determinants of family physicians’ knowledge and application of asthma management guidelines at primary healthcare setting in Saudi Arabia.Methods:This is a cross-sectional study, conducted at 18 primary healthcare centers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The sample consisted of 246 physicians. A self-administrated questionnaire was distributed among the physicians. The questionnaire included demographic, job characteristics, knowledge of asthma guidelines, and application of asthma guidelines’ questions about the essential items related to diagnosis and management of asthma according to the international/local guidelines. The minimum acceptable level for each knowledge and application of guidelines was defined as scoring 70% correct answers.Results:The results show very low level of knowledge of guidelines among physicians with 94.6% scoring below the acceptable knowledge level. The guidelines are applied below the acceptable level with 55.6% scoring below the cut-off point. Higher level of knowledge is associated with higher position of the physician (P = 0.006), qualification held by the physician, namely, MRCGP qualification vs. MBBS (P < 0.001), and the physician's experience, namely, 10–15 years of experience vs. less than 5 years (P = 0.01). The application of guidelines is associated with position of the physician (P = 0.041). Physicians with registrar position scored higher application for guidelines than general practitioners and senior house officers.Conclusion:Recognition of the low level of knowledge and application of guidelines among care providers and working toward minimizing this problem can be through education, training, and monitoring of application; this can potentially improve asthma control among patients.

Breastfeeding practice and knowledge among women attending primary health-care centers in Riyadh 2016.

Introduction:Breast milk is the best natural essential nutrition to newborns and infants. However, the practice of breastfeeding (BF) has declined in Saudi Arabia.Objective:The objective of this study was to assess the knowledge and practice of BF with their determinants among mothers in Riyadh.Materials and Methods:In this cross-sectional study, 252 mothers attending the well-baby clinics in Riyadh from March 2016 to May 2017 were selected randomly with their consent and studied by a standardized questionnaire.Results:Of the 252 women, 69.4% were 25–35 years of age and 56.7% with a bachelor degree or higher education. Nearly 75% mothers had education on BF before our study. Mixed feeding was the most preferred method (51.6%) followed by artificial milk (29.4%). The most reported reason for discontinuing BF was breast milk insufficiency (37.3%) and of breastfeed continuation was their perceived benefit (36.6%). Excellent knowledge was observed among 12.7%, good knowledge in 57.1%, and unsatisfactory level in 30.2% mothers. The regression model shows that high school education improved the knowledge by 10.9 points (P = 0.024) and undergraduate by 18.7 points (P value = 0.001) when compared to women who were literate. Women with parity >5 improved knowledge score by 17.3 points (P < 0.001).Conclusion:We observed that majority (57.1%) of Saudi mothers had a moderate level of knowledge on BF benefits and 19% had practiced exclusive BF. There is a need for better educational programs to increase awareness on its benefits for the health situation in the country on the long term.

Satisfaction of Patients Attending in Primary Healthcare Centers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: A Random Cross-Sectional Study.

This study aims to determine the level of satisfaction of patients who visit primary healthcare centers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The investigation was a cross-sectional study conducted in twenty randomly selected primary healthcare centers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from October to December 2014. A descriptive data analysis was performed. Eligible participants had visited at least one of the selected primary healthcare centers within the past 12months. A total of 1741 participants completed the survey, providing a response rate of 87% (43% male, 57% female). The highest satisfaction rates were in the following areas: comprehensiveness and coordination 76.2% (95% CI 74.8±77.5), communication 72.7% (95% CI 71.3±74) and attitude of staff 73.4% (95% CI 72.1±74.8) The areas of greatest concern expressed by the participants were the length of the wait and the quality of the facility 55.4% (95% CI 53.3±57.5), 50.5% (95% CI 48.3±52.7), respectively. The majority of the patients attending primary healthcare centers in Riyadh showed high levels of satisfaction; however, there are still some factors that need to be considered and improved upon. These include the accessibility of primary healthcare centers as well as waiting time of patients. The results of the current study showed relative improvement in other factors such as comprehensiveness and coordination, communication and attitude of staff. The level of satisfaction of patients and stakeholders shows the progress of the quality of care in healthcare facilities in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Missed appointments at maternal healthcare clinics in primary healthcare centres in Riyadh city: reasons and associated factors

Background: The issue of missed appointments at maternal healthcare clinics in primary healthcare centers (PHCCs) has received increasing attention in recent years. The significant relationship between missed appointments and access to maternal healthcare has been recognized around the world. Missed appointments have serious health and economic consequences for women seeking maternal healthcare at PHCCs. Objectives: The objectives of this research were 1) to critically explore the reasons for and socio-demographic factors associated with missed appointments at maternal healthcare clinics at PHCCs; and 2) to provide recommendations for health policy that might help to eliminate the problem of “no-show” maternal patients. Methods: Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the responses of 250 women regarding demographics, as well as their reasons for missing appointments and their preferences regarding appointment confirmation at maternal healthcare clinics at five PHCCs in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Results: The most frequent reasons associated with missed appointments reported by women included a lack of supplies and medical equipment, such as ultrasound machines, the unavailability of transportation and a lack of respect from PHCC staff. Conclusion: Developing easily accessible, flexible, interactive appointment systems with reminder/recall, providing means of transportation, providing training courses to PHCC employees on how to address these women and the provision of necessary medical equipment and facilities, such as ultrasound machines to all PHCCs are highly recommended to reduce the occurrence of missed appointments at maternal healthcare clinics at PHCCs in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.