[Utilization of visits and analysis of the impact of programmed visits].

OBJECTIVES

To discover the characteristics of the use of consultations with regards to frequency of, and reasons for, attendance. To measure the repercussion on on-demand attendance of including patients with chronic pathologies in the appointments system.

PATIENTS

Two samples of clinical histories were extracted at random from two general medical lists; one sample of 125 histories in order to determine the characteristics of the previous year's consultations; another of 44 histories where the patient had used the appointments system, in order to quantify the attendances for one year before and one after their inclusion in the system.

DESIGN

A descriptive retrospective study.

SETTING

Fuentes Norte Health Centre (Zaragoza).

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

The average of consultations per inhabitant per year was 3.7.4.8% attended_11 times. Women attended more than men (4.8 times as against 2.6; p < 0.0005), as did those over 65 (6.9 times; p < 0.0005). The main reasons for an on-demand consultation were bureaucratic (20%) and acute respiratory infections (16.3%); and for consultation with appointment, Hypertension (35.3%) and Obesity (32.8%). The average of on-demand consultations went down from 6.3 to 3.5 (p < 0.0001) on introducing the patients into the appointments system; but the overall number of consultations for these patients went up from 6.3 to 10.5 (p < 0.0001) because of the general medical and nursing appointments.

CONCLUSIONS

We must limit unnecessary bureaucratic requests and encourage self-care. The efficacy of scheduled consultations must be analysed; and those attending must be identified and dealt with.