A prospective study of the morbidity pattern of patients seen at a university primary care clinic.

Information on the morbidity pattern of patients seen at a primary care clinic is sparse or not available for most countries in the Middle East including Saudi Arabia. A prospective study of all new patients at the primary care clinic of King Khalid University Hospital (KKUH), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia was therefore carried out over a period of one year (1991G to 1992G). An analysis of the morbidity pattern of 9,441 new patients seen over this period is hereby reported. There is a male prepondence overall and more than 70% of the patients were below 40 years of age. III-defined illnesses, diseases of the skin, genitourinary, digestive, musculoskeletal and respiratory diseases accounted for more than 70% of the patients. About one-third of the patients, mainly those with diseases of the skin and genitourinary systems, were referred for specialist care. It is conceivable that the commonly observed pattern of diseases in this study may change over a period of time either due to the interventions adopted by the primary care clinics or as part of social development or as a cumulative effect of both. The primary physician has to be aware of such a change by periodically analyzing the available morbidity pattern.