Socio-Economic Status and Visits to Physicians by Adults in Ontario, Canada

1997 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 94-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Warren McLsaac ◽  
Vivek Goel ◽  
David Naylor

Objectives: To examine the association between socio-economic status, need for medical care and visits to physicians in a universal health insurance system. Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of the 1990 Ontario Health Survey, a population-based survey utilizing a multistage, randomized cluster sample. The analysis considered only those respondents who were 16 years of age or older from the province of Ontario, Canada: 21 272 males and 24 738 females. Results: There was no difference by education or income in persons having made at least one visit to a general practitioner in the previous year. High income persons were less likely to have made six or more visits to a general practitioner — odds ratio (OR) = 0.67, 95% CI = 0.52, 0.87 for men; OR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.58, 0.75 for women — but more likely to have made at least one visit to a specialist — OR = 1.42, 95% CI = 1.15, 1.76 for men; OR = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.07, 1.45 for women. A person's need for medical care was the most important determinant of a physician visit. Conclusions: Self-reported visits to general practitioners in Canada are strongly influenced by a person's need for medical care and are appropriately related to socio-economic status. However, there is a residual association between higher socio-economic levels and greater use of specialist services.

2018 ◽  
Vol 95 (5) ◽  
pp. 682-690 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Asadi-Lari ◽  
Y. Salimi ◽  
M. R. Vaez-Mahdavi ◽  
S. Faghihzadeh ◽  
A. A. Haeri Mehrizi ◽  
...  

PLoS ONE ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. e58256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith Millar ◽  
Suzanne M. Lloyd ◽  
Jennifer S. McLean ◽  
G. David Batty ◽  
Harry Burns ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Ssebunnya ◽  
G. Medhin ◽  
S. Kangere ◽  
F. Kigozi ◽  
J. Nakku ◽  
...  

Background.Depression is a common disorder characterized by delayed help-seeking, often remaining undetected and untreated.Objectives.We sought to estimate the proportion of adults in Kamuli District with depressive symptoms and to assess their help-seeking behaviour.Methods.This was a population-based cross-sectional study conducted in a rural district in Uganda. Sampling of study participants was done using the probability proportional to size method. Screening for depression was done using Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). The participants who screened positive also reported on whether and where they had sought treatment. Data collected using PHQ-9 was used both as a symptom-based description of depression and algorithm diagnosis of major depression. All data analysis was done using STATA version 13.Results.With a cut-off score of ⩾10, 6.4% screened positive for current depressive symptoms and 23.6% reported experiencing depressive symptoms in the past 12 months. The majority of individuals who screened positive for current depression (75.6%) were females. In a crude analysis, people with lower education, middle age and low socio-economic status were more likely to have depressive symptoms. Help-seeking was low, with only 18.9% of the individuals who screened positive for current depression having sought treatment from a health worker.Conclusion.Depressive symptoms are common in the study district with low levels of help-seeking practices. People with lower levels of education, low socio-economic status and those in middle age are more likely to be affected by these symptoms. Most persons with current depression had past history of depressive symptoms.


2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 323
Author(s):  
Fang Wang ◽  
Liuyi Zhang ◽  
Yao Cheng ◽  
Ping Zhang ◽  
Yuan Liang

Objectives: Although the number of community health services (CHS) agencies in China has increased rapidly, they are not well used by residents. The aim of this study was to explore residents’ experiences of CHS and their effects on residents’ utilization wishes.Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional door-to-door survey in Wuhan City, in central China. Five indicators (use convenience, environment, attitudes, degree of seriousness and medical costs) were selected as independent variables to reflect residents’ experiences of CHS. Control variables included age, gender, marital status, education level, self-perceived economic status, duration of residence, doctor-diagnosed hypertension and health insurance.Results: Among the five indexes of experiences, the results were as follows: use convenience (91.96%), attitudes (82.12%), degree of seriousness (79.53%), environment (71.94%) and medical costs (60.33%). After adjusting for the potential confounding variables, environment, degree of seriousness and medical costs were the most meaningful influences on residents’ utilization wishes (OR: 2.11, 95% CI: 1.11-4; OR: 2.19, 95% CI: 1.03-4.64; OR: 2.71, 95% CI: 1.46-5.03, respectively).Conclusion: The effects of degree of seriousness and medical costs appear to indicate that residents’ use of CHS is rational. However, the effect of environment may reveal that residents’ use of CHS is partly perceptual (‘judging a book by its cover’). The sustainable development of CHS should take account of these factors.


2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 1056-1064 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena de Carvalho Cremm ◽  
Fernanda Helena Marrocos Leite ◽  
Débora Silva Costa de Abreu ◽  
Maria Aparecida de Oliveira ◽  
Fernanda Baeza Scagliusi ◽  
...  

AbstractObjectiveThe present study aimed to investigate the individual and family determinants of being overweight among children younger than 10 years of age.DesignCross-sectional survey. Direct data on children's age, food intake, physical activity, type of transportation used and anthropometric measurements, as well as the education level of the mothers, were collected by trained interviewers.SettingPopulation-based study in the city of Santos, Brazil.SubjectsA total of 531 children under 10 years of age (302 aged <6 years, 229 aged ≥6 years), living in the city of Santos.ResultsThe overall prevalence of overweight and obesity (BMI-for-age Z-score >1) was 35·4 % for children under 6 years and 38·9 % for children aged 6–10 years. The socio-economic status of the family was associated with being overweight for both age groups. Logistic regression analysis showed that the lower the socio-economic status, the higher the likelihood of being overweight, among both younger children (OR = 7·73; P = 0·02) and older children (OR = 1·98; P = 0·04). The use of active transportation was associated with a lower likelihood of being overweight, but only among younger children (OR = 1·70; P = 0·05).ConclusionsSocio-economic status seems to be an important individual-level determinant of overweight in children. Public policies should consider promoting the use of active transportation, as the results showed it to have a positive effect on reducing overweight issues. The high prevalence of overweight in younger children suggests that this age group should be a priority in health-promoting interventions.


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