Methodology: This study was cross-sectional study design involving adult patients consulting at the Ambulatory Care Unit and at the FMCC Out-Patient Department of UP-PGH from July 1-31 2008. A purposive non-probability sampling was done among adult patients, ages 19 and above. After the consultation, those who met the inclusion criteria were given a questionnaire. The questionnaire was developed based on the study's objectives to determine the factors that would affect enablement. This was composed of 48 items. (See Appendix I) Determining the factors that affect enablement score is the major outcome of this study. The patient enablement questionnaire was composed of 7 items. (See Appendix II) The sum of the answers to the items was computed and taken as the total enablement score. The mean scores were computed and compared (Ambulatory Care Unit vs FMCC-OPD). Linear regression was utilized to determine statistically significant factors that affected the enablement store. Results: A total of 835 patients were enrolled in the study, 158 from the Ambulatory Care Unit and 677 from the Family Medicine Continuity Clinic. Patients who consulted at the ACU showed higher scores (mean of 14.12 + 3.20) than patients who consulted at the FMCC (mean 9.5 + 8.15). Both groups of patients did not meet the acceptable enablement score of 25. There were more females (55%) consulting at the ACU and there were more males (61%) seen at the FMCC. The mean ages of patients consulting at ACU and FMCC were 40 + 14.28 and 48 + 14.86, respectively. More patients who finished college were seen at ACU (39%), while more patients who finished high school were seen at FMCC(42%). There were more employed patients at ACU (55%) than FMCC (61%). Among the physician-related factors, explaining the disease well (P-value 0.003) affected the enablement score. For the family-related factors, the presence of another income earner in the family (P-value 0.001) affected the enablement score. Conclusion: This study was able to determine the factors that affect the enablement scores of patients consulting at the Ambulatory Care Unit and FMCC. These were educational attainment, being employed, physician explaining the disease well and presence of another income-earner. Patients seen at the Ambulatory Care Unit showed higher enablement scores than patients seen at FMCC.

The Filipino Family Physician, 2009 47 (4) pages 141-148