Objective: Our work is designed to find the level of demand for care in a health centre by studying data gathered with the system of regional information.
Design: This was a descriptive analysis of the health problems for which patients sought treatment, based on a sampling of these problems one week a month. SITE. The study, covering the whole of 1990, was carried out in an urban health centre in Valladolid.
Main measurements and results: 4.1 problems per person per year were recorded. Infants under a year old constitute the category with most problems (14.3 problems per year), followed by people over 65 (13 problems per year). The biggest group of problems concerned respiratory functions and social and administrative problems.
Conclusions: In spite of the differences in methodology, there are a large number of similarities between several studies.