THE ENCOUNTERS RESPONSE RATE

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CHAPTER 4: THE DOCTORS

This chapter reports the characteristics of doctors who participated and recorded the primary care visits for NMCS 2012. Data for these doctors were obtained through linkage with National Healthcare and Establishments Workforce Survey: Primary Care NHEWS database which captured information on services and workforce in primary care setting, including the doctors’ socio-demographic details. NHEWS TXHVWLRQQDLUHZHUHLQFOXGHGLQWKH106UHVHDUFKSDFNDQGWKHGRFWRUVZHUHDVNHGWRÀOOLQERWKVHWVRI questionnaire. Details on NHEWS Primary Care were described elsewhere. 1 A total of 408 doctors from public and private clinics participated in the NMCS 2012. The data for the doctors were not weighted and extrapolated due to scarcity of national sample frame of doctors practising in primary care clinics in Malaysia.

4.1 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DOCTORS

URPWKHWRWDORIGRFWRUVZKRSDUWLFLSDWHGLQ106GRFWRUVÀOOHGLQERWK106DQG NHEWS questionnaire thus providing their socio-demographic details. Table 4.1 shows the characteristics of doctors who participated in NMCS 2012. ‡ 0DMRULW\RIWKHGRFWRUVZHUHIHPDOHV,QSXEOLFFOLQLFVRIWKHGRFWRUVZHUHIHPDOHV whereas there were only 39.7 female doctors in private clinics. ‡ 2YHUDOOPRVWGRFWRUVDJHGEHWZHHQDQG\HDUVROGPHGLDQ\HDUV,45\HDUV,QSXEOLF clinics, nearly half of the doctors 48.0 were of this age group. In contrast, 62.8 of the doctors in private clinics were 50 years old and older. ‡ HVV WKDQ RI WKH GRFWRUV KDG SRVWJUDGXDWH TXDOLÀFDWLRQ 2I WKHVH PDMRULW\ ZHUH IDPLO\ medicine specialist. ‡ RFWRUVLQWKHSULYDWHFOLQLFVLQJHQHUDOZRUNHGORQJHUKRXUVPHGLDQKRXUVZHHNWKDQWKRVHLQ the public clinics median 40 hoursweek. Table 4.1: Characteristics of doctors for NMCS 2012 Characteristics Number Percentage Gender 350 100.0 Male 127 36.3 Female 223 63.7 Missing n = 58 Age group year 350 100.0 30 78 22.3 30-39 125 35.7 40-49 55 15.7 50-59 55 15.7 • 37 10.6 Missing n = 58 Type of primary care establishment 408 100.0 Public clinic 259 63.5 Private clinic 149 36.5 continued ✁ ✂ ✄ ☎ ✁ ✆ ✝ ✞ ✟ ✄ ✠ ✁ ✆ ✠ ✁ ✡ ✞ ☛ ✂ ✁ ✂ ✄ ☛ ✂ ✄ ✠ ☛ ☞ ✌ ✍ ☞ ✢ ✩ Characteristics Number Percentage 3RVWJUDGXDWHTXDOLÀFDWLRQ 350 100.0 Family Medicine 16 4.6 Others: public health, occupational medicine, health services management 6 1.7 None 328 93.7 Missing n = 58 Working hours per doctor per week hours a 42 40-45 Public 40 40-45 Private 48 42-60 a displayed as median interquartile range REFERENCE 1. Hwong WY, Sivasampu S, Aisyah A, Shantha Kumar C, Goh PP, Hisham AN. National Clinical Research Centre. National Healthcare Establishment and Workforce Statistics Primary Care 2012. Kuala Lumpur 2014. Table 4.1 continued: Characteristics of doctors for NMCS 2012 Chapter 5 The Patients ✁ ✂ ✄ ☎ ✁ ✆ ✝ ✞ ✟ ✄ ✠ ✁ ✆ ✠ ✁ ✡ ✞ ☛ ✂ ✁ ✂ ✄ ☛ ✂ ✄ ✠ ☛ ☞ ✌ ✍ ☞ ✢ ✦

CHAPTER 5: THE PATIENTS

This chapter reports the socio-demographic characteristics of the patient encounters. Mode of payment IRUSULPDU\FDUHVHUYLFHVLVVXDQFHRIPHGLFDOFHUWLÀFDWHDQGGXUDWLRQRIVLFNOHDYHJLYHQDWSULPDU\FDUH visits are also discussed in this chapter.

5.1 AGE-GENDER DISTRIBUTION OF PATIENTS

The overall distribution of patients at the point of encounter by age and gender was presented in Figure 5.1. ‡ 2YHUDOOIHPDOHVDFFRXQWHGIRURIHQFRXQWHUV ‡ 7KHSHUFHQWDJHRISDWLHQWYLVLWVLQFUHDVHGZLWKDJHIURPEHORZ\HDUROGVSHDNHGDWDJHVRI years and declined as the age increased. ‡ 7KHODUJHVWGLIIHUHQFHLQWKHSURSRUWLRQRISDWLHQWVE\JHQGHULVREVHUYHGDPRQJWKRVHDJHG \HDUV IHPDOH YHUVXV PDOH 7KLV REVHUYHG GLIIHUHQFH OLNHO\ UHÁHFWV WKH KLJKHU numbers of antenatal visits within this female reproductive age group and the greater likelihood of delay in seeking help during illness among the males. 1 Figure 5.1: Age-gender distribution of patients in primary care clinics in 2012

5.2 PATIENT SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS

Table 5.1 shows the socio-demographic characteristics of the patients. ‡ 7KHSULYDWHFOLQLFVVHHDODUJHUVKDUHRISDWLHQWHQFRXQWHUV ‡ 0RVWSDWLHQWVZHUHHLWKHU0DOD\VLDQVRUSHUPDQHQWUHVLGHQWVRI0DOD\VLD7KHSURSRUWLRQRI encounters by non-Malaysians 7.8 corresponds to the reported 8.2 of non-citizens from the total general population. 2 ‡ 0DMRULW\RISDWLHQWVSUHVHQWLQJWRSULPDU\FDUHFOLQLFVZHUH0DOD\V7KHGLVWULEXWLRQRI ethnicity reported for NMCS 2012 were similar to general population data as reported by the Department of Statistics Malaysia. 2 ‡ 1HDUO\RIWKHSDWLHQWVZKRYLVLWHGSULPDU\FDUHZHUH\HDUVDQGROGHU7KHHOGHUO\• years currently make up 5.3 of the Malaysian population and this number is projected to reach 7.3 by 2021. 3 Thus, the proportion of attendances by patients of this age group and complexity of morbidities in primary care is anticipated to increase as the population ages. Male Percent Age Group years Female 1 1-4 5-19 20-39 40-59 60 1.9 30 25 20 15 10 5 3.0 5.0 16.9 12.7 5.1 1.7 3.0 4.5 26.1 13.3 6.6 Note: Missing data removed