Morbidity Patterns in Primary Care in Hong Kong: Protocol for a Practice-Based Morbidity Survey

Area of Science:

• Primary care research
• Public health surveillance
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Accurate health problem data is vital for understanding community morbidity and informing health policy.
• Morbidity surveys in primary care document patient reasons for visits, diagnostic interpretations, and management strategies.
• Such surveys are crucial in the absence of centralized electronic medical record databases.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine current morbidity and management patterns in Hong Kong's primary care sector.
• To compare these patterns with data from a previous survey conducted in 2007-2008.
• To assess changes influenced by the evolving sociodemographic profile and recent health care initiatives, including a pandemic.

Main Methods:

• A prospective, practice-based survey of primary care doctors in Hong Kong.
• Convenience and targeted sampling across public and private sectors.
• Doctors recorded health problems and management for consecutive patient encounters over a week each season, using the International Classification of Primary Care, Second Edition.
• Descriptive statistics and nonlinear mixed effects models were used to analyze data and compare sectors.

Main Results:

• Data collection occurred from March 1, 2021, to August 31, 2022.
• As of April 2022, 176 doctor-weeks of data were collected.
• Analysis will reveal prevalence of health problems, disease patterns, and management activity rates (referral, investigation, prescription, preventive care).

Conclusions:

• The study will provide up-to-date information on community health.
• Results will inform the planning and allocation of health care resources.
• Findings will offer insights into primary care practice during a pandemic and evolving population health needs.