Language: Spanish
References: 0
Page: 441-448
PDF size: 196.57 Kb.

ABSTRACT

Family medicine is the pillar of health care in the IMSS and is the natural entrance to health services for the population protected by Social Security. The health units around the country provided 67 000 000 consultations each year that include a variety of diagnoses for infec-tious and chronic diseases and reproductive and mental problems. The first 20 causes are responsible for 58 % of total need and upper respiratory diseases comprise 16 %, followed by high blood pressure (11 %) and diabetes (9 %). Women from 20 to 59 years of age are the most frequent users and demand 38 % of all health visits, followed by the elderly (22 %) and adult men 20 to 59 years old (17 %). The main trends are increase in the number of medical visits for hypertension and diabetes, the emergence of mental health problems such as neurosis and epilepsy in the primary health care units and the increase demand for lumbalgias. The health profile in family medicine units urges the institution to prepare its medical personnel and organize its resources to tackle a health profile very different from that in the past, complex in nature, and highly prone to cause disability and important complications.