SERIOUS DISEASES OF ENT ORGANS, THE RELEVANCE OF IMPROVING THEIR PREVENTION AND TREATMENT

In more coutrys, a lower-middle-income country in South Asia, ear, nose, and throat (ENT) diseases make up a large percentage of a primary care physician's practice. In order for general practitioners to effectively deliver standardized primary health care and avoid unnecessary specialist ENT referrals, thorough clinical practice guidelines and primary care clinical referral algorithms must be developed in response to this growing burden. The workload in outpatient departments (OPDs) across the globe, including Thailand, is greatly influenced by the need for ear, nose, and throat (ENT) care. Nevertheless, there hasn't been a comprehensive report on the epidemiology of ENT illnesses in Thai OPDs. In order to provide the first epidemiological report of southern Thailand, this study sought to evaluate and characterize the epidemiology of these disorders among patients visiting the ENT clinic at Thung Song Hospital. The number of ENT patients was tracked throughout a four-year period in this retrospective, descriptive study. The extensive information showed that the ENT clinic's outpatient department had 34,848 ENT visits and 12,712 new cases, with an average of 3,178 case instances every year. Interestingly, more than 25% of the patients were considered geriatric, meaning they were 60 years of age or older. Significantly, the annual prevalence of ENT disorders was more than 15% higher in girls than in boys. Different age groups showed different prevalent conditions: toddlers were more likely to have otitis externa, adults were more likely to have benign tumors, and older people were more likely to have sensorineural hearing loss. The goal of this research project is to gain a deeper understanding of these diseases' epidemiology. These studies could direct the improvement of medical strategies for ENT-related conditions.