ABSTRACT
Introduction: A general practitioner is the first health care stage that is seeked by patients for the purpose of controlling chronic diseases, diagnosing and treating acute diseases.
Objectives: 1. To determine the distribution of the most common acute diseases in different age groups. 2. To determine the most common acute diseases during the seasons of autumn, winter, and spring.
Methods:The study was conducted over the period from April 2015 to March 2016. Anonymous questionnaires were used and filled by general practitioners during patient visits to collect data including the date of the visit, age, gender and the ICD-10-CM code of a chronic disease in cases the disease was the reason the patient seeked the general practitioner. In total, the study involved 10 general practitioners who collected data on 1855 randomly selected patients that were consulting a general practitioner and only patients suffering from a chronic disease were included (713 patients). Five most common diseases were selected from each season. Patients were sorted into six groups according to their age: ≤17 y, 18 – 24 y, 25 – 34 y, 35 – 49 y, 50 – 64 y, ≥65 y.
Data was analyzed using the SPSS 20.0 statistical package. A statistical difference was considered significant at the level of p<0.05.
Results: 305 acute diseases were diagnosed during autumn. The most often cases were: J06.9 acute upper respiratory infection, unspecified (73 cases, 23.9 percent of all acute diseases diagnosed during autumn), J00 acute nasopharyngitis (26 cases, 8.5 percent), J20.9 acute bronchitis, unspecified (21 cases, 6.9 percent), J02.9 acute pharyngitis, unspecified (16 cases, 5.2 percent), J04.1 acute tracheitis (12 cases, 3.9 percent).
A statistically significant association was found between the most often cases of acute diseases and the age groups (p<0.001). Acute upper respiratory infection was the most often case in the group of ≤17 y patients – 276 cases (65 percent of all patients suffering from these diseases and 84.1 percent of all diseases in this age group). Nervous system diseases were common for the group of 35-49 y patients – 14 cases (50 percent of all patients suffering from these diseases and 13 percent of all diseases in this age group). Circulatory system diseases were common for the group of ≥65 y patients – 9 cases (47.4 percent of all patients suffering from these diseases, 16.4 percent of all acute diseases in this age group).
Conclusions: 1. Acute diseases usually vary in different age groups of patients. 2. It appears that upper respiratory diseases are common during all seasons.