Effect of digitization of medical case files on doctor patient relationship in an Out Patient Department setting of Northern India: A comparative study

Background: Digitization of health records and health delivery processes in health care settings may have an impact on the Patient-Physician communication, wait times, that affect the overall patient satisfaction with the health care services. Aim & Objective: We ascertained the effect of digitization of medical case files on the doctor patient relationship (DPR) domain of patient satisfaction at an urban primary health center in India. Settings and Design: Comparative, cross-sectional study in primary health centres. Methods and Material: The patient satisfaction was compared between the patients attending the Public Health Dispensary (PHD) that uses digitized medical case file system and a Civil Dispensary (CD) which follows the conventional paper based medical records, using a Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire (PSQ). Statistical analysis used: Univariate analysis was done by chi-square test and adjusted analysis was done by multiple linear regression. Results: Patient satisfaction in DPR was found to be same between the digitized medical case files based and conventional OPD (p=0.453). Significantly higher overall patient satisfaction was reported in the conventional paper based OPD than the digitized OPD (p<0.001). Conclusions: Patient satisfaction towards the doctor-patient relationship (DPR) was same between paper based OPD and the digitized medical case files based OPD.

Is family history of alcohol use an important predictor of its use? An epidemiological study in an urban slum of North India.

Background and objectives: The increasing production, distribution, promotion and easy availability of alcohol coupled with the changing values of society has resulted in alcohol-related problems emerging as a major public health concern in India. The family plays a major role in terms of social, economic and cultural values. These influences can have both a positive or negative effect on developing norms and values within the family . Thus, the increasing usage of alcohol is not just due to an individual’s likes or dislikes but rather due to several extraneous factors operating in respective societies. This understanding and identifying of critical factors is crucial to reduce the growing impact of alcohol use. The objective of the indexed study is to know the determinants of alcohol use in an urban slum of North India. Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted in an urban slum of Meerut using a WHO questionnaire AUDIT and data was analysed in SPSS 19.0 using chi-square test and application of logistic regression to further rule out the confounding effect. Results: Association of alcohol use with age, occupation, marital status, caste and smoking habit of the respondent were statistically significant. No significant association of alcohol use was found with income of the respondent, family size, family type and socio-economic status. On applying Logistic regression, marital status, caste and family history of alcohol use remained statistically significant as independent variables. Interpretation and Conclusions: Alcohol use can be one of the disastrous health hazard because of its addicting and dependence inducing behaviour. This study is the cornerstone to produce the valid evidence of the effect of positive family history as one of the important predictor of alcohol use.