Utilization of primary health care during summer

Objectives: To determine the workload on primary health care center service s, to recognize the patterns of utilization of primary health care center s ervices and morbidity patterns among the summer visitors who attended prima ry health care centers in Asir region in 1998, Methods: A special form was designed to record demographic data, diagnosis and management. Ten percent of those forms were analyzed to study the patte rns of morbidity and health service utilization. A special formula was used to calculate the size of the workload on the health services during the se ason. Results: The total number of patients who attended primary health care cent ers during the study period was 387,727, Twenty-five percent of them were s ummer visitors. The workload on the health services increased by 33%. Both sexes utilized the services equally. Most of the visitors were young, Saudi s, and utilized curative services. Respiratory related problems represented 60% and digestive related problems represented 12%, Conclusion: There was an excessive load on primary health care center servi ces during the summer season. Reorganization, re-allocation of resources an d provision of extra medical facilities in the Asir region are necessary to overcome this load.