[Diagnoses in the medical house call]

Area of Science:

• Geriatrics
• Public Health
• Family Medicine

Background:

• Home-based physician visits are a crucial component of healthcare delivery, particularly for vulnerable populations.
• Understanding the demographics and health conditions necessitating home visits is vital for resource allocation and service planning.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the utilization patterns and primary health conditions associated with physician home visits in a rural community.
• To compare disease prevalence in home visits versus general practitioner consultations.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of physician home visit records over a 12-month period in a rural community.
• Data collection on patient demographics, reasons for visit, diagnoses, and subsequent hospitalizations.

Main Results:

• 8.6% of inhabitants received home visits; 2.9% received exclusive home care.
• 73.8% of home visits were for the chronically ill, disabled, or elderly.
• Circulatory diseases in elderly women constituted nearly 50% of home visits; geriatric issues predominated.
• Diagnoses in home settings differed from general practitioner consultations; hospitalizations were often emergency measures.

Conclusions:

• Home healthcare predominantly serves geriatric patients with chronic conditions, especially cardiovascular diseases.
• The need for home visits is driven by patient condition rather than specific diagnoses, indicating a complex care situation.
• Current diagnostic practices in home visits may not fully capture the home care environment's complexities.