General practitioner reported follow每up visits among asthma patients in North Central Nigeria

作者：AE Fawibe; KJ Joseph; OF Olaosebikan; AK Salami; PO Oluboyo; OO Desalu

来源：Annals of African Medicine, 2011.

Background: Despite the benefits of regular follow每up in the long每term care of asthma, no previous study has reported on it among asthma patients in Nigeria. Objective: This survey was designed to evaluate GP每reported follow每up visits among asthma patients in North Central Nigeria. Methods: It was a cross每sectional survey conducted among GPs in three North Central states of Nigeria. Results: Overall, 48.3% of the GPs reported that their patients usually come for follow-up visits. About 63.6%, 40.0%, and 55.3% of the GPs in Kwara, Kogi, and Niger states, respectively, reported that their patients came for follow每up visits in the month prior to this study. Less than two每third of GPs in both private (55.1%) and public (56.8%) hospitals reportedly attended to patients on follow每up visits. About 46.5%, 37.5%, and 52.0% of the GPs who attended to patients 2 weeks prior to the study reported that their patients came for follow每up visits. There was signifi cant difference (P = 0.04) in the reported follow每up visits by GPs who attended to ≡ 10 asthma patients compared to others. None of the nine GPs who reportedly treated ≡ 10 patients in the preceding month of the study attended to any patient on follow每up visits. Conclusion: The GP每reported rates of follow每up visits in patients that are accessing asthma care from GPs practicing in the North Central part of Nigeria are low. Further studies to identify barriers to follow每up visits and how to correct them are therefore recommended.