Seval Yaprak1, Ulku Bulut1, Yunus Emre Okudan2, Ozden Gokdemir1, Muhteber Colak1, Ediz Yıldırım3, Dilek Guldal1. 1. Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey. 2. Department of Cardiology, Yuzuncu Yil University, Van, Turkey. 3. Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey. ediz.yildirim@deu.edu.tr.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: In Turkey, a mandatory referral system is not used. Caregivers, for their children, present directly to health-care providers at all levels. This allows patients to present directly to university hospitals. In this study, reasons for university hospital-treatment seeking by caregivers for child health problems is discussed. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study at Dokuz Eylul University Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey, of 235 caregivers whose children were admitted to the outpatient clinic of the General Pediatrics Department between 4 and 11 April 2013. They completed a questionnaire on demographic data and reasons for presentation to the university hospital. Mann-Whitney U-test was used to compare group means, and Pearson chi-squared test for ratios between groups. P <0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. RESULTS: A total of 54.5% of participants lived far from the hospital. The most frequent complaints involved the respiratory tract, among which the most frequent complaint was cough. Time from symptom onset to presentation was ≥7 days in 58.3% of patients, and 48.9% had never presented to another institution. The most common reason for choosing the university hospital was the availability of the necessary tests (88.1%). CONCLUSIONS: Despite common use of primary health-care systems, with regard to tertiary hospital presentation, the most important factors for preferring tertiary hospital presentation were caregiver trust in tertiary hospital resources for diagnosis and treatment.
BACKGROUND: In Turkey, a mandatory referral system is not used. Caregivers, for their children, present directly to health-care providers at all levels. This allows patients to present directly to university hospitals. In this study, reasons for university hospital-treatment seeking by caregivers for child health problems is discussed. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study at Dokuz Eylul University Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey, of 235 caregivers whose children were admitted to the outpatient clinic of the General Pediatrics Department between 4 and 11 April 2013. They completed a questionnaire on demographic data and reasons for presentation to the university hospital. Mann-Whitney U-test was used to compare group means, and Pearson chi-squared test for ratios between groups. P <0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. RESULTS: A total of 54.5% of participants lived far from the hospital. The most frequent complaints involved the respiratory tract, among which the most frequent complaint was cough. Time from symptom onset to presentation was ≥7 days in 58.3% of patients, and 48.9% had never presented to another institution. The most common reason for choosing the university hospital was the availability of the necessary tests (88.1%). CONCLUSIONS: Despite common use of primary health-care systems, with regard to tertiary hospital presentation, the most important factors for preferring tertiary hospital presentation were caregiver trust in tertiary hospital resources for diagnosis and treatment.
Authors: Yolanda G Lovie-Toon; Anne B Chang; Peter A Newcombe; Dimitrios Vagenas; Sophie Anderson-James; Benjamin J Drescher; Michael E Otim; Kerry-Ann F O'Grady Journal: Qual Life Res Date: 2018-01-22 Impact factor: 4.147