Ecology of healthcare in an urban and rural area of Gampaha district of Sri Lanka: a community-based prospective study on symptom prevalence and healthcare utilization.

ABSTRACT: The 55 million visits to government outpatient departments (OPD) in Sri Lanka in 2014, is estimated to increase to 100 million in 2027. The private OPD visits in 2014 was estimated at 50 million per annum. In primary care, there is a paucity of medical records, research on symptoms and healthcare seeking behaviour. We aimed to determine the symptom prevalence and healthcare seeking pattern of residents in Gampaha district, Sri Lanka. A community-based prospective study using a participant-held symptom diary and interviews were conducted in two areas, Ragama (urban) and Mirigama (rural), in the Gampaha district of Sri Lanka during May-June 2018. For each area, three midwife areas were randomly chosen. Clusters of 15-20 households were selected from 5-6 random locations from each midwife are

SUBMITTER: Withana SS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12375270 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature