The Prevalence and Characteristics of Frequent Attendees in a Family Medicine Clinic: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study at a Primary Health Care Center in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Background Frequent attendees in primary healthcare settings pose significant challenges to healthcare delivery systems, impacting resource utilization and service quality. Understanding the characteristics and patterns of frequent attendance is crucial for developing targeted interventions and optimizing healthcare resources. Objective To determine the proportion of patients classified as frequent attendees (defined as ≥8 visits per year) among all patients attending the family medicine clinic and to examine their personal (age and gender) and health characteristics (comorbidities, visit purposes, and diagnostic patterns) at the Specialized Polyclinic-Primary Health Care Center (SPC-PHC), National Guard Health Affairs in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Methods A retrospective observational study was conducted using electronic health record data from patients attending the family medicine clinics at the Specialized Polyclinic-Primary Health Care Center (SPC-PHC), National Guard Health Affairs, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, during 2021. Frequent attendees were defined as patients with ≥8 visits within one year. Demographic characteristics, comorbidities, visit purposes, and ICD-10 diagnostic categories were analyzed descriptively. Results Frequent attendees represented 6.4% of all unique patients attending the family medicine clinics; however, they accounted for 16.6% of the total visits recorded in the primary healthcare system during the study period. Among frequent attendees, the mean number of visits during the study period was 10.6 (±2.7), while the median number of visits was 10 per patient. Frequent attendees were predominantly female (66.0%), with the majority aged 19-40 years (56.4%). The most common comorbidities were diabetes mellitus (21.3%), dyslipidemia (20.4%), and hypertension (15.4%). New complaints constituted the largest proportion of visits (37.41%), followed by laboratory result follow-ups (15.58%) and chronic issue follow-ups (13.12%). No-show visits accounted for 11.25% of all visits. Endocrine, nutritional, and metabolic diseases (16.65%) were the most prevalent diagnoses, followed by genitourinary (14.96%) and musculoskeletal disorders (14.37%). Associations were observed between visit purposes and patient demographics, with distinct patterns across age groups, gender, and comorbidity status. Conclusion The study identified frequent attendance mainly among females aged 19-40 years, with endocrine, genitourinary, and musculoskeletal conditions as leading diagnoses. These findings highlight the need for targeted interventions for frequent attendees, including structured chronic disease management and patient education programs, to improve service efficiency and optimize the use of primary healthcare resources.