RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Demography and diagnosis of patients encountered at Qassim University Polyclinics, Central Saudi Arabia
JF Saudi Medical Journal
JO Saudi Med J
FD Prince Sultan Military Medical City
SP 1037
OP 1037
DO 10.15537/smj.2016.9.15775
VO 37
IS 9
A1 Meshari M. Al-Harbi
A1 Hassan A. Al-Mogbel
A1 Abdalla M. Al-Amro
A1 Abdulaziz A. Al-Mofadhi
A1 Ahmed F. Al-Homaid
A1 Salman H. Al-Harbi
A1 Sami A. Al-Rosaini
A1 Turki A. Al-Suhaibani
A1 Abdelmageed Imam
YR 2016
UL http://smj.org.sa/content/37/9/1037.abstract
AB Objectives: To provide current data on the demography and diagnosis of patients encountered at the Internal Medicine Outpatient Department of Qassim University Polyclinics (QUP), Qassim, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study conducted at QUP, Qassim, KSA, during the period November 2014 and December 2015. The record files of the study patients who were sampled by convenience method, were reviewed and analyzed. A standardized questionnaire was designed by the authors to collect data from the patients’ records. Percentage descriptive statistics were used for data analysis.Results: A total of 115 patients were studied. Males were 61.8%. The age range was 1.5-83 years (mean 42.3). The predominant age group was 31-60 years (59.4%). The identified top 5 diseases were: hypertension 40 (34.7%), diabetes mellitus 39 (33.9%), dyslipidemia 17 (14.7%), vitamin D deficiency 13 (11.3%), and arthritic disease 6 (5.2%).Conclusion: Non-communicable diseases, in the present study, were the common causes for patients to attend QUP, Qassim, KSA. Changing lifestyle of the population is one possible explanation for such a trend. Prospective studies are advisable toward an in-depth understanding of this trend.