ABSTRACT
Background: The time dedicated to patients and how they are treated are crucial in the evaluation of health care quality. Medical students acting as medical assistants could improve the perception of a good quality of care among ambulatory patients. Aim: To evaluate if the presence of Student-Assistants improves the patients' perception of health care quality in ambulatory primary care. Patients and Methods: Quasi-experimental exploratory study. In two health care centers, patients answered a questionnaire about their perception of how they were treated at baseline and after an intervention period. In one center, prior to the appointment of the patient with the doctor, the student interviewed patients focusing on chief complaints and registered their vital signs, orally presenting this information to the clinician. In the other center, there was no student intervention. Patients answered the questionnaire at the end of appointments. Results: At baseline 103 patients answered the questionnaire (58 in the experimental and 45 in the control center). After the intervention, 121 patients answered it (56 in the experimental and 65 in the control center). Basal scores were 6,25 and 6,06 in experimental and control center, respectively (p = NS). After the intervention, the scores were 6,49 and 6,15, respectively (p = 0,01). Conclusions: These data support the hypothesis that the presence of a Student-Assistant could improve the perception of patients about how they are treated at primary health care centers.
Subject(s)
Humans , Students, Medical , Ambulatory Care , Primary Health Care , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
El asma bronquial es la enfermedad crónica más frecuente en la infancia. Todos los años un número importante de pacientes pediátricos se hospitaliza por esta causa. No existe en Chile un conocimiento sobre su magnitud. Objetivo: Conocer la tasa de hospitalización por asma en niños de 5 a 15 años y evaluar su evolución en el tiempo. Pacientes y Método: Se calculó la tasa de hospitalización por asma en base al número de egresos hospitalarios del registro de egresos del Departamento de Estadística e Información de Salud del Ministerio de Salud de Chile (DEIS) y de las poblaciones expuestas al riesgo de hospitalización obtenidas de las proyecciones de población, proporcionadas por el Instituto Nacional de Estadística. Se evaluó la evolución de estas tasas desde el año 2001 al 2014. Resultados: Durante el lapso estudiado se observó un aumento significativo de la tasa de hospitalización por asma en niños, desde 3,8 por 10.000 habitantes el 2001 a 7,8 por 10.000 habitantes el 2014. El promedio de edad fue de 8,5 ± 2,7 años, siendo de sexo masculino el 57,58% de los pacientes con una mediana de estadía hospitalaria de 3 días (rango 1-12). Conclusiones: La tasa actual de hospitalizaciones por asma en Chile en niños de 5 a 15 años es de 7,8 por 10.000 habitantes, observándose una duplicación de ésta en los 14 años estudiados.
Bronchial asthma is the most prevalent chronic disease in children. Every year an important number of asthmatic children is hospitalized for asthma crisis. The magnitude of this problem in Chile is unknown. Objective: To evaluated the asthma hospitalization rate in 5-15 year-old children and evaluate their evolution. Patients and Method: We calculate the asthma hospitalization rate in children based on data from the National Hospitalization Discharge Registry from the Statistics and Health Information Department of the Ministry of Health (DEIS) and the National Institute of Statistics (INE). We evaluate the evolution of these rates from 2001 to 2014. Results: We observed a significant increase in the asthma hospitalization rates in children from 3,8 for 10.000 inhabitants in 2001 to 7,8 for 10.000 inhabitants in 2014. The average age was 8,5 years ± 2,7. Male gender was predominant (57,58%) with a mean length of stay of 3 days (range 1-12). Conclusions: The actual asthma hospitalization rate in Chile is 7,8 for 10.000 inhabitants for children 5 to 15 years old, with a double increase in this rate during the 14 year period analyzed.
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Child, Preschool , Child , Adolescent , Asthma/epidemiology , Hospitalization/trends , Asthma/therapy , Chile/epidemiology , Registries , Hospitalization/statistics & numerical dataABSTRACT
The aim of this work was to assess the quality of life of 87 patients older than 60 years, out of 200 undergoing chronic hemodialysis in 9 centers at Santiago. A visual analog scale, with scores ranging from 0 (bad) to 100 (optimal) and a specific questionnaire about the impact of hemodialysis in daily activities, with scores ranging from 1 -10 (severe limitation) to +10 (no limitation) were applied to patients and their attending nurses. Using the visual analog scale, patients assesed their quality of life in 51.7 per cent and health personnel in 61.3 per cent . Patients had a questionnaire score of 2.3. Quality of life scores were inversely correlated with the condition of being diabetic and the number of hospital admissions