摘要：Research question: What are the patterns, perception and determinants of the health seeking behavior of the patients attending the out-patient department (OPD) of Primary Health Centres (PHC) Objectives: (a) To determine the common motivators for the OPD attendees to come to the PHC for health services, (b) To estimate the number of days of suffering the patients endure for the current morbidity before they attend the OPD of the studied PHCs for the first time.(c)To identify the health care set-ups the study subjects had visited before attending the OPD of the studied PHCs for the first time. Study design: Cross-sectional study. Study location: Districts Varanasi and Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh Material and methods: Post-consultation exit-polls were conducted with the OPD attendees of 30 PHCs (includes mother and additional PHCs) of districts Varanasi and Sonbhadra on randomly selected working days over a period of 6 months using a semi-structured questionnaire. A total of 21422 patients were interviewed. Results: Majority (52.3%) stated either proximity of the PHC to their homes or cheaper costs of treatment or both as the main reason why they visited the PHC OPD. About 40% of the PHC attendance was formed by people who had the disease onset within the past 3 days. Sixty percent of the patients had come directly to the PHC for consultation without going elsewhere or trying any self-medication. Around 50% of the patients were found happy with the OPD services. Conclusion: The health seeking behavior patterns and determinants have not changed much over the years. Demand for care and availability of services seemingly form mutually dependent parameters. Thus, these should not be studied in exclusion.
