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Patient’s Perspective on Factors Affecting Health-Seeking Behavior in Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia

 Background There are different determinants of health-seeking behaviors. Studying health-seeking behaviors and their factors help governments use the existing health resources properly for a potent healthcare system. This study aimed to evaluate the factors influencing health-seeking behavior in Al...

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Autores principales: Almaqhawi, Abdullah, Alsayil, Shahad, Al Qadhib, Mohammed, Alkhawfi, Ahmed, Alkhalaf, Abdullah, Al Khowildi, Zahra
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Cureus 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9640208/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36381745
http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.30078
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author Almaqhawi, Abdullah
Alsayil, Shahad
Al Qadhib, Mohammed
Alkhawfi, Ahmed
Alkhalaf, Abdullah
Al Khowildi, Zahra
author_facet Almaqhawi, Abdullah
Alsayil, Shahad
Al Qadhib, Mohammed
Alkhawfi, Ahmed
Alkhalaf, Abdullah
Al Khowildi, Zahra
author_sort Almaqhawi, Abdullah
collection PubMed
description  Background There are different determinants of health-seeking behaviors. Studying health-seeking behaviors and their factors help governments use the existing health resources properly for a potent healthcare system. This study aimed to evaluate the factors influencing health-seeking behavior in Al-Ahsa. Methods The study is a questionnaire-based observational cross-sectional study of the factors influencing health-seeking behaviors in the general population of the Al-Ahsa governorate. A non-probability convenience sampling technique was used to acquire the sample. The study followed all ethical considerations and received approval from King Faisal University. Results A total sample of 481 participants completed the study questionnaire. 21.2% of people visited the health centers for medical checkups despite having no symptoms, while 29.1% admitted to avoiding the health centers despite knowing they needed medical attention. Additionally, the majority of patients prefer government-run health facilities (58.6%), while 41.4% prefer the commercial sector. When experiencing any health complaints, precisely 70.7 % of women go to a medical facility, compared to 61.8% of men (P=.038). In addition to that, 68.5% of participants with intermediate economic status visit healthcare centers for any symptoms compared to 50% of others with high financial status (P=.049). Specifically, 73.3% of participants diagnosed with a disease or chronic diseases visited healthcare centers for clinical symptoms compared to 64.3% of others without (P=.049). Conclusion This study identified that most participants with chronic diseases seek medical care for any symptom, and the participants with an intermediate economic status are more likely to go to a governmental primary healthcare center for any symptoms. The findings of this research provide insights for the government and policymakers to create effective strategies and manage the existing resources in Al-Ahsa.
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spelling pubmed-96402082022-11-14 Patient’s Perspective on Factors Affecting Health-Seeking Behavior in Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia Almaqhawi, Abdullah Alsayil, Shahad Al Qadhib, Mohammed Alkhawfi, Ahmed Alkhalaf, Abdullah Al Khowildi, Zahra Cureus Family/General Practice  Background There are different determinants of health-seeking behaviors. Studying health-seeking behaviors and their factors help governments use the existing health resources properly for a potent healthcare system. This study aimed to evaluate the factors influencing health-seeking behavior in Al-Ahsa. Methods The study is a questionnaire-based observational cross-sectional study of the factors influencing health-seeking behaviors in the general population of the Al-Ahsa governorate. A non-probability convenience sampling technique was used to acquire the sample. The study followed all ethical considerations and received approval from King Faisal University. Results A total sample of 481 participants completed the study questionnaire. 21.2% of people visited the health centers for medical checkups despite having no symptoms, while 29.1% admitted to avoiding the health centers despite knowing they needed medical attention. Additionally, the majority of patients prefer government-run health facilities (58.6%), while 41.4% prefer the commercial sector. When experiencing any health complaints, precisely 70.7 % of women go to a medical facility, compared to 61.8% of men (P=.038). In addition to that, 68.5% of participants with intermediate economic status visit healthcare centers for any symptoms compared to 50% of others with high financial status (P=.049). Specifically, 73.3% of participants diagnosed with a disease or chronic diseases visited healthcare centers for clinical symptoms compared to 64.3% of others without (P=.049). Conclusion This study identified that most participants with chronic diseases seek medical care for any symptom, and the participants with an intermediate economic status are more likely to go to a governmental primary healthcare center for any symptoms. The findings of this research provide insights for the government and policymakers to create effective strategies and manage the existing resources in Al-Ahsa. Cureus 2022-10-08 /pmc/articles/PMC9640208/ /pubmed/36381745 http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.30078 Text en Copyright © 2022, Almaqhawi et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Family/General Practice
Almaqhawi, Abdullah
Alsayil, Shahad
Al Qadhib, Mohammed
Alkhawfi, Ahmed
Alkhalaf, Abdullah
Al Khowildi, Zahra
Patient’s Perspective on Factors Affecting Health-Seeking Behavior in Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia
title Patient’s Perspective on Factors Affecting Health-Seeking Behavior in Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia
title_full Patient’s Perspective on Factors Affecting Health-Seeking Behavior in Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia
title_fullStr Patient’s Perspective on Factors Affecting Health-Seeking Behavior in Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia
title_full_unstemmed Patient’s Perspective on Factors Affecting Health-Seeking Behavior in Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia
title_short Patient’s Perspective on Factors Affecting Health-Seeking Behavior in Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia
title_sort patient’s perspective on factors affecting health-seeking behavior in al-ahsa, saudi arabia
topic Family/General Practice
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9640208/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36381745
http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.30078
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