MORBIDITY PROFILE OF PATIENTS REPORTING AT A RURAL HEALTH TRAINING CENTRE IN A TRIBAL AREA

Abstract

Introduction:Primary health care was defined at Alma Ata international Conference with 8 essential elements.Most of\nour country s population lives in rural area and it has always been a challenge to provide all these elements of Primary\nHealth care to them especially in tribal areas.\nAims & Objectives: This study was carried out to observe the morbidity profile of patients reporting in routine OPD at\nRural Health Training Centre situated in a tribal area.\nMethods: This study was conducted at a Rural Health Training Centre (RHTC) in Palghar, Maharashtra. Data of all\npatients was collected for a period of one year between Jan 2019 and Dec 2019. Data was entered and analyzed using\nMicrosoft Excel Spreadsheet software.\nResults and Observations:A total of 25503 patients reported to OPD of Rural Health Training Centre in the study year of\n2019. Out of these 72% were adults. The monthly trend of diseases showed two peaks in seasons of monsoon\n(predominantly AFI) and winters (mostly URTI).\nConclusion: This study showed that various illnesses have seasonal variations and also there is scope for better\nreporting of definitive diagnoses. Such studies at regular intervals may provide a better picture in terms of health care\nneeds of patients of tribal areas and may help upgrading services.