Health and Demographic Characteristics of Patients Attending a Newly-Opened Medical Facility in a Remote Amazonian Community: A Descriptive Study

Peru is a country with wide regional disparities in health. Remote Amazonian communities have high rates of poverty and poor access to health services. There is a lack of data on morbidity and use of health services in the region. We describe a descriptive, cross-sectional study of the demographic characteristics and presenting complaints of attendees to a newly-opened primary care facility in a remote community. This was supplemented by structured interviews of adult attendees to build a picture of sociocultural determinants of health locally, including engagement with traditional forms of medicine. Our study provides novel insights into an under-studied and under-resourced area. We found …