Health problems and the health care provider choices: A comparative study of urban and rural households in Egypt

Salma B. Galal; Nageya Al-Gamal

doi:10.1016/j.jegh.2013.12.002

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Volume 4, Issue 2, June 2014, Pages 141 - 149

Health problems and the health care provider choices: A comparative study of urban and rural households in Egypt

Authors

Salma B. Galal^a^{, *}^,asra78@gmail.com, Nageya Al-Gamal^b^{, †}

^aFormer WHO Technical Officer, Geneva and Public Health Professor, Egypt

^bFaculty of Medicine [Girls], Al-Azhar Univ., Egypt

^†

Died.

^*Corresponding author. Address: Public Health, 23, Sh. Abdel Kader Al-Maghrebi, 11361 Heliopolis, Cairo, Egypt. Mobile: +20 1006610196.

Corresponding Author

Salma B. Galalasra78@gmail.com

Received 15 July 2013, Revised 24 October 2013, Accepted 2 December 2013, Available Online 9 January 2014.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jegh.2013.12.002 How to use a DOI?
Keywords: Care quality; Bypassing health care; Patients’ satisfaction; Health seeking behavior; Patient referral
Abstract: Objective: To assess families’ health problems and the health facility choices in an urban and a rural district in Egypt.

Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study with a multi-stage random sample of 948 urban and 401 rural households was undertaken in a district of Cairo and rural Giza. Data was collected through interviews. The questionnaire addressed health problems and the use of health services within the fortnight prior to the survey.

A follow-up of a sub-sample of 285 urban and 114 rural households was carried out 2–3 weeks after the first interview to assess the outcome of complaints. The EPi Info Statistical Package was used for analysis and comparing urban and rural families.

Results: Over 60% of urban and 78.8% of rural families had health complaints - respiratory, gastrointestinal and musculoskeletal. Outpatient clinics in public hospitals were the first choice for 49.7% of urban families and 23% of rural, while 25.7% of urban and 42.8% of rural families visited private clinics. Over half of the families with complaints recover from their illnesses within a fortnight.

Conclusion: Urban families have less health complaints than rural; however, rural families recover sooner. Families bypass often public primary health care services. Urban families overuse outpatient clinics in public hospitals.
Open Access: This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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<Previous Article In Issue

Journal: Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health
Volume-Issue: 4 - 2
Pages: 141 - 149
Publication Date: 2014/01/09
ISSN (Online): 2210-6014
ISSN (Print): 2210-6006
DOI: 10.1016/j.jegh.2013.12.002 How to use a DOI?
Open Access: This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Cite this article

ris enw bib

TY  - JOUR
AU  - Salma B. Galal
AU  - Nageya Al-Gamal
PY  - 2014
DA  - 2014/01/09
TI  - Health problems and the health care provider choices: A comparative study of urban and rural households in Egypt
JO  - Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health
SP  - 141
EP  - 149
VL  - 4
IS  - 2
SN  - 2210-6014
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jegh.2013.12.002
DO  - 10.1016/j.jegh.2013.12.002
ID  - Galal2014
ER  -

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