Comparative study of age, sex, illness profile, between suburban, rural and central urban population in general...

To investigate the differences between rural suburban and central urban patterns in General Practise, in terms of Patient age, sex and illness profiles, in Winter. Using a laptop computer, all relevant patient parameters were entered during the surgery consultation as each patient attended. The totals for each parameter were subsequently computed and using the Microsoft Excel program comparative pie charts for urban and rural categories were compiled, in percentage terms.

Cork. In the rural area 60% of those attending were male, while in the urban area only 43% were male. There were 2.75 times more people over 65 years old attending the urban surgery. However there were 80% more under 14 year olds and 43% more in the 15 to 64 year age group attending the rural surgery.