Analysis of the prevalence of diseases in the rural areas of Warmia and Mazury

Abstract

Int roduc t ion: General practitioners (GPs), are the foreground of all medicine. When a disease starts, most patients have their first contact with medicine in the GP’s offices. For this reason, it is likely that the illnesses diagnosed by GPs are consistent with the real number of illnesses occurring in the area of their region. Aim: To preset in this research we focused on the frequency of cases of disease where there was a problem with receiving prompt medical advice. Ma t e r i a l and me thods : We obtained data of 14 279 visits of 2774 patients from January 1 to December 31, 2017, containing an ICD-10 diagnosis, the statistical number of the patient and the patient’s age at the time of visit from the 3 GPs facilities belonging to one practice in a rural area near to Olsztyn. Re sul t s and di s cus s ion: Analysis has shown that the most popular cardiovascular system disease is essentially hypertension. We found out that hypertension was affecting even the youngest people – males from 20 to 30 years old. Under the age group of 40–50 years old, mainly men suffered from hypertension. The family doctor institution should be the basis of the Polish Health System. It is the place where all the patients’ basic needs should be met. This institution should be the first filter of patients, which refers patients to more highly-specialistic medical providers. Conc lus ions : The top 15 diagnoses in our study contains prescribing medication, which is the same in Australia.The difference between the two countries is the percentage of this problem – 24.1% in Polish GPs vs. 1.6% in Australian GPs.