Health status assessment in primary care practice
General Medicine, 2023, 25(2), 62-66.
B. Raduilov1, Tsv. Valentinova2, M. Kamburova3, I. Polyakov1, E. Mekov4
1 Primary Care Group Practice „My Doctor“ – Sofia
2 Department of General Medicine, Forensic Medicine and Deontology, Faculty of Public Health, Medical University ‒ Pleven
3 Department of Social Medicine and Health Management, Faculty of Public Health, Medical University ‒ Pleven
4 Department of Occupational Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University ‒ Sofia
Abstract. Ensuring good health for all people, regardless of their geographical location and socioeconomic status is an important goal of society. Routine medical examinations play an essential role in healthcare. A routine medical examination could be defined as a routine healthcare process that is usually performed in a healthcare facility, in both genders, for all age groups and at a specific period depending on the patient’s risk factors. This article aims to develop a standardized physical examination in primary care practice to obtain the most detailed assessment of health status. According to the proposed model, health status assessment (HSA) includes an objective and a subjective component. The subjective component of the HSA includes the 36-item WHODAS 2.0 questionnaire, an oral hygiene questionnaire, and a structured medical history. The subjective component of the HSA is self-administered by the individual before the examination. The objective component of the HSA includes an assessment of ocular status, hearing, body composition, pulmonary function, medical history, and examination. The average administration time for the objective component is less than 60 minutes. The proposed HSA will allow comparability of health outcomes between different populations both in aggregate and in a specific aspect, might increase trust in the healthcare system and between physician and patient, and create a sense of security while the structured approach reduces the likelihood of error and omission. Automated systems based on HSA results (e.g. vaccination recommendation at a certain age or automatic health risk calculation) could assist the healthcare professional.
Key words: health status assessment, primary care, examination, health needs assessment, health risk assessment
Address for correspondence: Branimir Raduilov, MD, e-mail: branimir.raduilov@gmail.com