Who are our patients? A profile at a clinic in Kelantan

Abstract

Family physicians aim to provide whole-patient care. This includes having an interest in the social background of patients, and also providing health education to patients. A questionnaire study was performed on 456 patients attending Klinik Peubatan Masyarakat, Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysiam Kubang Kerian, Kelantan. Factors assessed included: age, sex, race, religion,
marital status, home district, distance traveled to clinic, occupation, household income, household size, education, and literacy in Roman and Jawi script. Average household size was 6 members, with 62 subjects (14%) living in households of 10 or more. Many patients live below the poverty line: 139 (32%) had a monthly family income of less than RM350. However, there is a bias towards the higher social classes compared to the census findings on distribution of occupation among the Kelantanese. Many older patients, especially women, did not attend school and are not literate. The relevance of these findings to various aspects of health care and health education is discussed.