Familiarity with Population Health Management Terminology and Attitudes Toward PHM-Aligned Principles Among Primary...

Background/Objectives: Population health management (PHM) emphasizes prevention, coordinated care, and population-level approaches to improving health outcomes. However, patient familiarity with PHM terminology and attitudes toward PHM-aligned principles remain underexplored in primary care settings. This study assessed familiarity with the term PHM, attitudes toward PHM-aligned principles, and participation in preventive health programs among adult primary care attendees in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and examined their associations with health literacy, patient activation, and sociodemographic characteristics. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among adult attendees of primary care outpatient clinics at King Saud University Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, between 1 October and 1 December 2025. Participants completed a self-administered Arabic questionnaire that included PHM awareness items, Questionnaire Assessing Population Health Management-Aligned Principles (PHM-Q), a study-developed 7-item instrument assessing agreement with PHM-aligned principles, the HLS-Q12, and the PAM-13. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, Mann-Whitney U tests, Kruskal-Wallis tests, Spearman correlation analyses, and internal consistency assessment were used. Results: A total of 286 participants were included. Familiarity with the term PHM was limited, with 24.8% reporting prior exposure. Participation in preventive health programs was also limited, as only 17.5% of participants reported having participated. In contrast, agreement with PHM-aligned principles was generally favorable (PHM-Q mean 3.86, SD 0.57). PHM-Q scores correlated positively with health literacy (ρ = 0.548, p < 0.001) and patient activation (ρ = 0.433, p < 0.001). Participation in preventive health programs was significantly associated with higher health literacy and higher patient activation. Conclusions: These findings should be interpreted as reflecting favorable attitudes toward PHM-aligned principles within this sample rather than formal PHM literacy, operational understanding, or readiness for PHM implementation. Because the study-developed questionnaire was exploratory and not psychometrically validated beyond internal consistency, the results should be understood as descriptive and hypothesis-generating.