Background: Primary healthcare (PHC) is considered as the nucleolus of the healthcare system. PHC plays a vital role in providing optimal healthcare service. Increase in the quality of the health services is urgent in order to increase the health status of the population and increase their awareness of using services provided through PHC centers. The aim of the study was to evaluate community knowledge about PHC centers services and to enhance community to utilize community service.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was carried out in Riyadh among Saudi adults. An online well-constructed questionnaire was disseminated and self-administered by each participant. The filled questionnaires were reviewed for completeness and accuracy before data entry. The data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences program, version 22.0 using descriptive statistics. p-value ≤ 0.05 was considered significant.
Results: A total of 450 persons, with ages ranging from 18 to 65 years or above, participated and filled the questionnaires. Demographic data collected included age, marital status, occupational status, level of education, and health status of the participants; 58.9% knew about the antenatal care service of PHC, but only 18.2% knew about the referral services. 46.9% visited PHC units because most secondary/university hospitals require a referral from PHC. At the same time, 41.6% of the participants did not visit PHC units because the doctors in the hospitals are more qualified.
Conclusion: This study showed the awareness levels of participants about the service provided by PHC in Riyadh. The antenatal care was the most known service, while the referral service was the lowest known service of PHC units. The main motive for visiting the PHC units was that secondary/university hospitals require a referral from PHC, whereas the greatest barrier was that doctors in hospitals are more qualified. Age, gender, marital status, work, education level, and health status are considered to play a significantly major role in the utilization of PHC services.
Key words: Awareness level, Barrier and Motives level, Primary healthcare.
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