LONG-WAITING OUTPATIENTS - TARGET AUDIENCE FOR HEALTH-EDUCATION

The study examines the meaning of waiting time in an outpatient depart ment. Attention is payed to the activities of the patients and compani ons during the waiting time, the potential for health education progra mmes during the waiting time and the form such a health education prog ramme should take. The setting was the King Khalid University Hospital Outpatient Department, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The study sample was sel ected by a systematic random sample approach of one in every 10 patien ts or companions visiting the clinic in a period of 2 weeks. The resul ts showed an average waiting time of 148 min with a standard deviation of 11 min. Patients currently engage in reading, sleeping or talking during long waiting time. However, they showed a preference for health education programmes for specific diseases such as heart disease, dia betes mellitus and bowel diseases during the waiting time. Leaflets we re favoured to be the most preferred mode for disseminating such infor mation. A sizeable proportion of patients also wanted religious progra mmes included. We conclude that education programmes for preferred spe cific health topics at outpatient clinic services would be of potentia l benefit to patients' overall health.