HEALTH-PROBLEMS IN FAMILY-PRACTICE - AN ICELANDIC MULTICENTER STUDY

Objective - To establish epidemiological data on the health problems w ithin family practice in Iceland by multicentre analysis of well-defin ed geographic areas. Design - Prospective practice audit. Subjects and Settings - Thirteen Icelandic health centres (HC) with computerized c ontact data from 1 January - 31 December 1988. Main outcome measures - Health problems during one year in a population, as perceived by heal th care providers. Results - A total of 176 384 health problems during one year in a population of 31 248, as perceived by the health care p rovider, were analysed. Musculoskeletal disorders accounted for 9.3% o f all health problems (prevalence 210.6/1000 inhabitants), respiratory disorders 9.4% (189.9/1000), accidents 7.4% (203.2/1000), cardiovascu lar disorders 7.4% (112.0/1000) and mental disorders 6.1% (87.6/1000). The commonest single health problems were: hypertension, upper respir atory tract infections and non-articular rheumatism. The health proble ms accounting for the most frequent contacts were: mental disorders (4 .0 contacts per individual per year), cardiovascular (3.7), and endocr ine, nutrition and metabolic (3.2). Conclusion - Problem-oriented medi cal records from HCs, computerized in a uniform standardized way, can give extensive information about the content and burden of health prob lems in family practice and presumably public health. Our results are valuable because the population (the denominator) and the geographic s tudy area are well defined. This information is an important part of c linical epidemiology and can be of great value for educators and healt h care planners.