Abstract
Background
About every tenth household across Europe is unable to meet payment obligations and living expenses on an ongoing basis and is thus considered over-indebted. Previous research suggests that over-indebtedness reflects a potential cause and consequence of psychosomatic health problems and limited access to health care. However, it is unclear whether those affected discuss their financial problems with general practitioners that often serve as patients’ initial medical contact. Therefore, this study examined patient-physician communication about financial problems in general practice among over-indebted individuals.
Methods
We conducted a cross-sectional survey among clients of 70 debt advice agencies in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, in 2017. We assessed the prevalence of patient-physician communication about financial problems and its association with patient characteristics using descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis. Of 699 individuals who returned the questionnaire (response rate: 50.2%), we included 598 respondents enrolled in statutory health insurance with complete outcome data in the analyses.
Results
Less than one fourth of respondents had ever discussed financial problems with their general practitioner (n=135; 22.6%). Individuals with a high educational level were less likely to communicate about financial problems compared to those with medium educational level (aOR 0.11; 95% CI 0.01-0.83) after adjustment for other sociodemographic characteristics, health status and measures of financial distress. Those without a migrant background (aOR 2.09; 95% CI 1.32-3.32), the chronically ill (aOR 1.90; 95% CI 1.16-3.13) and individuals who reported high financial distress (aOR 2.15; 95% CI 1.22-3.78) and cutting on necessities to pay for medications (aOR 1.86; 95% CI 1.12-3.09) were more likely to report communication than their counterparts after adjustment.
Conclusions
Few over-indebted individuals discussed financial problems with their general practitioner. The findings suggest that patients’ health status, coping strategies and perception of financial distress might contribute to variations in disclosure of financial problems. Thus, enhancing communication and screening by routine assessment of financial problems in clinical practice can help to identify vulnerable patients and promote access to health care and social services and well-being for all.
Health Status and Access to Health Care Among D/deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Canadians