ESTIMATION OF COMMON NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASES IN PRIMARY HEALTHCARE SETTINGS: A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY
Albana POLOSKA, Risida GJONEJ, Arben GJONEJ, Klestid POLOSKA, Valbona SEITI
Abstract
Background: Every year, 39 million people die from non-communicable diseases, a number that has not meaningfully declined despite decades of global health efforts. More than three quarters of these deaths happen in low- and middle-income countries, where health systems are least equipped to absorb them. Primary health care sits at the frontline of this challenge, yet its capacity to manage NCDs remains underdeveloped in many settings. The present study was designed to map the burden of NCDs at a single primary care center, examining how cases are distributed across the population and whether sociodemographic variables help explain that distribution. Methods: Records were drawn from patients registered at Primary Health Center No. 4 in Tirana, covering a five-year window from 2020 through 2024. Data collection took place between October 2024 and February 2025. All statistical analysis was performed in IBM SPSS Statistics 26; findings were treated as significant where p fell below 0.05. Results: Patient numbers climbed each year without exception. Of those recorded, 58.56% were women, and 52.18% had completed secondary education as their highest level. Arterial hypertension dominated the diagnostic picture, with diabetes mellitus not far behind, and notably accelerating over the final years of the study period. Patients aged 65 and older made up 39.28% of the total, and multimorbidity was common rather than exceptional. Age, gender, and education each showed statistically significant ties to NCD prevalence (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The data paints a clear picture: NCD caseloads at the primary care level are growing, and older patients carry a disproportionate share of that weight. Early identification and targeted prevention, not just disease management, need to become core functions of primary care, especially for groups already known to be at risk.
Pages: 62 - 69