What happening in Cape Town Family Medicine/Primary Care Practice? A Morbidity Survey with ICPC

Abstract

The discipline of Family Medicine-Primary Care is in need of more research for its healthy development. Patterns of morbidity and health care utilisation are important indicators of need, and as such essential for health care planning. Measuring morbidity at primary care level with ICPC has been done successfully elsewhere in the world, and field studies are needed to prove its worth in the South African context. Two morbidity surveys were conducted in Cape Town primary care services at Mitchell’s Plain, Bishop Lavis and Elsiesrivier. They were intended as field studies for morbidity surveys with ICPC in both the private and public funded sectors, and to identify further areas for research. ICPC proved to be a suitable coding instrument through both direct and indirect (central) coding methods. Several further areas for research were identified in these limited studies: the need for morbidity based information in both the private and public primary care services, the health seeking behaviour of the different age groups, and the real differences between the private practices and day hospitals with regard to morbidity profiles