Table 1 Characteristics of patients attending health center in Ntaja, Malawi
From: Examination of patient flow in a rural health center in Malawi
Characteristic | Number (%) N = 1018 |
|---|---|
Age group | |
Children | 518 (50.9 %) |
Adults | 500 (49.1 %) |
Travel time to center (minutes) | 55.3 (44.9) |
Transport costs to center ($US) | 0.12 (0.33) |
Day of center visit | |
Monday | 237 (23.3 %) |
Tuesday | 231 (22.7 %) |
Wednesday | 166 (16.3 %) |
Thursday | 184 (18.0 %) |
Friday | 201 (19.8 %) |
Presenting symptom | |
Fever | 563 (55.2 %) |
Cough | 397 (38.9 %) |
Diarrhea | 68 (6.7 %) |
Body ache | 232 (22.8 %) |
Other | 439 (43.0 %) |
Diagnosis | |
Muscular/skeletal pain | 302 (29.8 %) |
Malaria | 286 (28.3 %) |
Respiratory infection | 197 (19.5 %) |
Fever | 79 (7.8 %) |
Other | 148 (14.6 %) |
Medicine prescribed | |
Paracetamol | 625 (41.2 %) |
Multivitamins | 394 (26.0 %) |
Lumefantrine/artemether | 266 (17.5 %) |
Fansidar | 48 (3.2 %) |
Clotrimazole | 45 (3.0 %) |
Other | 139 (9.1 %) |
Medicines prescribed were dispensed | |
Yes | 3854 (89.9 %) |
No | 434 (10.1 %) |
Medicines prescribed but not dispensed | |
Paracetamol | 229 (52.8 %) |
Multivitamins | 82 (18.9 %) |
Aspirin | 11 (2.6 %) |
Oral rehydration salts | 10 (2.3 %) |
Calamine lotion | 10 (2.3 %) |
Other | 92 (21.2 %) |
Patient satisfaction | |
Excellent | 8 (0.8 %) |
Very good | 234 (23.0 %) |
Good | 472 (46.3 %) |
Poor | 245 (24.0 %) |
Very poor | 60 (5.9 %) |
Number of providers seen | |
One | 83 (8.1 %) |
Two | 244 (23.9 %) |
Three | 462 (45.3 %) |
Four | 203 (19.9 %) |
Five | 27 (2.7 %) |
Six | 1 (0.1 %) |