Abstract
M.Tech. (Homoeopathy)
Patient profiles are compiled by collecting data regarding a patients’ main area of
complaint and his/her demographic information. These patient profiles describe the
patients attending a health care facility and provides valuable insight into the positioning
of the health care facility within its immediate community.
Record keeping is an essential part of any health care facility, and allows for continuity in
patient care. Accurate record keeping allows a better quality of service to be rendered to
the patient. Patient records should include consent forms which need to be legible, signed
by the patient, and must have the patient information present as these are legal
requirements.
This research was a quantitative, retrospective study and resulted in the formulation of a
profile of the patients at the University of Johannesburg Homeopathic Health Centre
Doornfontein campus during the period 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2016. In addition,
an evaluation of the record keeping was conducted for this period.
There were 506 patient files that were sampled, which represented 100% of the patients
that visited the University of Johannesburg Homeopathic Health Centre during the study
period, whose files fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The evaluation of demographic
information resulted in the following: race groups that were represented were Black
(53%), Indian (22%), White (21%), and Coloured (4%); age distributions were 0-18 (13%),
19-35 (37%), 36-40 (28%), > 60 (22%); and females accounted for 67% of the patients.
The area of main complaint that was most prevalent was musculoskeletal complaints
(24%), followed by dermatology (11%). The most common ailment across all race groups
was musculoskeletal complaints. Using the Chi-Square goodness of fit test, the Black
race group were found to have a greater tendency to cardiovascular/peripheral vascular
complaints, and the White race group were more susceptible to central nervous system
complaints. The Indian population presented with more cardiovascular/peripheral
vascular and endocrine complaints, and the Coloured population encountered more
mental health ailments. The 0-18 age group suffered with more ear/nose/throat and sinus
ailments, whereas the 19-36 age group experienced more dermatological complaints.
Musculoskeletal complaints were found to be more common in the 36-60 and >60 year
age group...