Factors influencing patient attention toward audiovisual-health education media in the waiting room of a public health center

Background: The Public Health Center (Puskesmas) is a primary care center in Indonesia that focuses on promotive and preventive efforts, as opposed to exclusively curative approaches. However, a major challenge has been identified in relation to the limited number of health personnel available to provide education to patients. The objective of this study, therefore, was to determine the impact of personal factors, severity of health problems, environmental situation, and patient activities on the level of attention payed to the audiovisual media. Design and Methods: The study involved the screening of 12 kinds of health education video, which ran in the LCD panel in the waiting room. The population consisted of visitors/patients that were 15 years old or older, and a sample size of 124 was selected randomly during the study period. Results: Based on the statistical analysis, it was established that age, severity of health problems, environment situation, and visitor activity influence patient awareness to audiovisual media in the waiting room of the Public health center. Conclusions: It is recommended that public health centers improve their environment to encourage the patients to pay attention to health media.