[The reasons for medical and nursing appointments in a primary health care center (Barcelona)].

The programmed visit, which is basically generated by the health care team, permits a rationalization of the demand and the introduction of health promoting activities. We have evaluated our motives (medical and nurse practices) for the appointment of patients during 1987. We have also recorded the age, sex, compliance and source of the appointment in a sample of 198 medical and 223 nurse appointments. 62.5% of the appointed visits corresponded to females and more than 50% to patients over 59 years. The most common type of appointment was to control chronic disease, owing to its high prevalence and the protocolization of its care. In individuals under 45 years appointments were mostly for diagnostic approach and to record the clinical history. The implementation of preventive measures appeared as one of the least common causes. Failure to comply was seen in 25%, being higher in patients under age 45 and in the appointments to record the clinical history. These results point to the need of restructuring the concertation priorities. The health problems of the population and its vulnerability are the factors that should guide health planning.