Albalahi Naif Meshal, Al Bargawi Mashael, Kofi Mostafa
Resident Family Medicine, Family and Community Medicine Department, Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Consultant Family Medicine, Family and Community Medicine Department, Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
J Family Med Prim Care. 2021 Dec;10(12):4452-4462. doi: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_1007_21. Epub 2021 Dec 27.
Urgent Care Clinics (UCCs) offer unscheduled appointments with a "treat and release" length of visits not exceeding 60 min. The growth of clinics is dictated by patients' demand for quality care that is unscheduled, expedited, and ubiquitous, making them accessible and available.
This study aimed to assess the patient's level of awareness and utilization pattern of UCCs in Wazarat Health Care Center (WHCC) and assess factors associated with them.
This study aims to provide information contributing to the support of decision-makers about the level of awareness among patients on urgent care services and their pattern of use within primary health care.
This cross-sectional study included 288 patients visiting PHC clinics to measure their level of awareness and pattern of utilization using a self-administered questionnaire.
A total of 288 patients participated, 55.99% were females, and the highest percentage was in the age group of 18-38 years at 60.07%. Only one quarter, 73 (25.35%) of the patients were aware of the term urgent clinics, from them, more than a half (53.42%) visited such clinics 1-3 times in the three months before the time of study conduction, and the main cause of the visits was the common cold (25.76%). Less than half of the participants reported visiting the primary clinics without booking an appointment in advance at 44.79%. The reason for this was mainly because of having difficulty booking appointments at 54.55%. Awareness level was the highest (28.32%) among the lowest age group (18-38 years) and decreased gradually by increasing the age. A significantly higher percentage of low educational level participants reported visiting primary clinics without booking an appointment in advance at 51.33% vs. 37.68% of the university and above participants. According to patients ' income, there was a significant (0.023) difference in the awareness level; the highest was among participants with an income of 6000-12000 SAR at 32.86%.
Only one-quarter of the studied patients know about the UCCs. More than half of the patients reported visiting these clinics because of difficulties in booking an appointment at the primary healthcare centers and convenience with the services provided at the UCCs. The common cold was the main reason for visiting the UCCs.
紧急护理诊所（UCCs）提供非预约就诊服务，就诊时长为“治疗并出院”，不超过60分钟。诊所的发展取决于患者对非预约、快速且普遍可得的优质医疗服务的需求，使其易于获得且随时可用。
本研究旨在评估瓦扎拉特医疗中心（WHCC）患者对紧急护理诊所的认知水平和使用模式，并评估与之相关的因素。
本研究旨在为决策者提供信息，以支持他们了解患者对紧急护理服务的认知水平及其在初级医疗保健中的使用模式。
这项横断面研究纳入了288名到初级保健诊所就诊的患者，使用自填式问卷来测量他们的认知水平和使用模式。
共有288名患者参与，其中55.99%为女性，年龄在18 - 38岁组的比例最高，为60.07%。只有四分之一（73名，占25.35%）的患者知晓紧急护理诊所这一概念，其中超过一半（53.42%）的患者在研究开展前的三个月内去过此类诊所1 - 3次，就诊的主要原因是普通感冒（25.76%）。不到一半的参与者（44.79%）表示在未提前预约的情况下前往初级保健诊所就诊。原因主要是预约困难，占54.55%。认知水平在最低年龄组（18 - 38岁）中最高（28.32%），并随着年龄增长逐渐下降。受教育程度低的参与者中，未提前预约前往初级保健诊所就诊的比例显著更高，为51.33%，而大学及以上学历的参与者这一比例为37.68%。根据患者收入，认知水平存在显著差异（0.023）；收入在6000 - 12000沙特里亚尔的参与者中认知水平最高，为32.86%。
在研究的患者中，只有四分之一了解紧急护理诊所。超过一半的患者表示因在初级医疗保健中心预约困难以及紧急护理诊所提供的服务便利而前往这些诊所就诊。普通感冒是前往紧急护理诊所就诊的主要原因。
