KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.
Afr J Prim Health Care Fam Med. 2021 Sep 22;13(1):e1-e6. doi: 10.4102/phcfm.v13i1.2968.
In South Africa, patients are meant to attend the clinic close to their place of residence. However, patients often choose which clinic to attend, which results in overcrowding.
This study aimed to investigate the structural and process factors influencing patients' choice to attend a community health centre (CHC) in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
The study was conducted at the Inanda C Community Health Centre (CHC).
Systematic random sampling was used to select study participants. A structured questionnaire was used to collect socio-demographic data and assess the factors influencing patients' choice to attend this CHC.
There were 400 patients who participated. The commonest structural indicator that patients agreed on as the reason they attend Inanda C CHC was because it has enough medication (126, 73.3%). There was a significant difference in the proportion of patients who agreed that seeing a doctor instead of nurse was a reason for attending this clinic with 118 (68.6%) patients from within the catchment area and 170 (74.6%) from outside the catchment area. The commonest process indicators that patients from within and outside the catchment area agreed on as reasons for attending Inanda C CHC were 'the doctor or nurse explains my sickness and treatment to me' and 'I get good quality of care'.
The structural and process indicators that influence patients' choice of clinic may need to be improved at other clinics in this area in order to decrease the overcrowding at this clinic.
在南非，患者应前往居住地点附近的诊所就诊。然而，患者常常选择就诊的诊所，这导致了诊所的过度拥挤。
本研究旨在探讨影响南非夸祖鲁-纳塔尔省患者选择到社区卫生中心（CHC）就诊的结构和过程因素。
本研究在因达纳 C 社区卫生中心（CHC）进行。
采用系统随机抽样法选择研究参与者。使用结构化问卷收集社会人口统计学数据，并评估影响患者选择到该 CHC 就诊的因素。
共有 400 名患者参与了研究。患者普遍认为选择因达纳 C CHC 的原因是因为该诊所药物充足（126 例，73.3%）。在因达纳 C CHC 就诊的原因中，认为看医生而不是护士是一个原因的患者比例存在显著差异，来自服务区内的 118 名（68.6%）患者和服务区外的 170 名（74.6%）患者都认为这是一个原因。来自服务区内和服务区外的患者都普遍认为选择因达纳 C CHC 的原因是“医生或护士向我解释我的病情和治疗方法”和“我得到了良好的护理质量”。
为了减少该诊所的过度拥挤，该地区其他诊所可能需要改进影响患者选择诊所的结构和过程指标。
