House calls in Lebanon: reflections on personal experience

Home health services play an important role in decreasing hospital admissions and physicians' medical house calls play an integral role in home health services. There is no national survey of physicians' house call practice in the Lebanon.

The aim of this study was to provide some information about house call practice in the Lebanon.

Data on patients examined during house call visits between 1 January and the end of December 1995 were reviewed.

During this period, 137 patients were seen at their home. Eighty-four patients (62%) were female and 53 patients (38%) were male. Ages ranged from 1 to 85 years. The number of cases seen in 1 month averaged 11. The diagnosis differed according to the age group of patients examined. Most of the house call visits occurred between 6.30 p.m. to 12.00 p.m. (47%). Fifteen patients (11%) were admitted to the hospital.

The rate of cases per month was similar to those reported elsewhere. Physicians might feel reluctant to conduct house calls out of hours. Our study revealed that the majority of patients were seen between 6 p.m. and 12 p.m., and only 6% were seen after 12 a.m. It is our belief that house calls are an integral part of family practice and need to be stressed during the internships of all primary care physicians.