Health seeking behaviour of geriatric population in rural area of Puducherry: a community based cross sectional study

Gnanasabai, Gnanamani; Kumar, Mohan; Boovaragasamy, Chithra; Rahman, Mijanur; Ramamurthy, Poovitha

doi:10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20203941

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Health-seeking behavior (HSB) is an important concept associated with a country's health status and economic development [1]. It also helps uncover the health needs and priorities of a population and informs the development of appropriate policies to address their needs and avert their disease progress [2]. In the literature, HSB has been studied with different scopes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the literature, HSB has been studied with different scopes. The most commonly used definition is "any action or inaction undertaken by individuals who perceive themselves to have a health problem or to be ill for the purpose of finding an appropriate remedy" [3], and studies adopting this definition always examined the formal health system use or the process of illness responses [2,[4][5][6]. However, one could argue that this definition focuses mainly on illness behaviors [7] and ignores the importance of promoting overall health and well-being, as health is not merely the absence of disease or infirmity but rather a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Health-Seeking Behavior and Its Associated Technology Use: Interview Study Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Zhang¹,

Lee²,

Teo³

2023

JMIR Aging

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Background Understanding older people’s health-seeking behavior (HSB) is crucial for uncovering their health needs and priorities and developing appropriate policies to address them and avert their disease progression. Technologies play an active role in our daily lives and have been incorporated into health activities to support the older population and facilitate their HSB. However, previous studies of HSB have mainly focused on behaviors during illness, and there are limited studies on how technologies have been used in older people’s health-seeking activities. Objective This study aimed to investigate HSB and the associated technology use among the older population, ultimately proposing implications for practice to address their unmet health needs. Methods This paper presents partial data from a large qualitative study, which has been approved by the institutional review board and used a phenomenological approach. Semistructured interviews were conducted between April 2022 and July 2022, either via Zoom (Zoom Video Communications Inc) or face-to-face sessions. Inclusion criteria were being aged ≥50 years, long-term residence in Singapore, and being able to speak English or Mandarin. The interviews were manually transcribed verbatim, and thematic analysis was performed, with the individual as the unit of analysis to understand the patterns of behaviors. Results In total, 15 interviews were conducted to reach thematic saturation. We identified 5 main consequences of HSB, which were aligned with the original HSB model. Regarding technology use in health seeking, 4 themes were extracted: the most widely used digital technologies are the mobile health apps and wearable devices with the associated wellness programs launched by the government and local companies, and they have the potential to enhance health communication, promote health maintenance, and increase access to health services; information communication technologies and social media, though not primarily designed for health purposes, play a substantial role in easing the process of seeking health information and managing symptoms. Although the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in some alterations to older adults’ well-being, it has catalyzed the adoption of telehealth as a complement to access health care services, and older adults have different considerations when selecting technologies to facilitate their health seeking and fulfill their health needs. Moreover, 4 archetypes were proposed based on our findings and the insights gained from our participants’ observations in their social networks. These findings led to several implications for practice regarding health communication and promotion, health education, technology design and improvement, telemonitoring service implementation, and solutions to address the needs of each proposed archetype. Conclusions Unlike the commonly held belief that older adults resist technologies and lack technological proficiency, our findings showed that technologies could play a promising role in facilitating older adults’ health seeking. Our findings have implications for the design and implementation of health services and policies.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health-Seeking Behavior and Its Associated Technology Use: Interview Study Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Zhang¹,

Lee²,

Teo³

2023

JMIR Aging

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“…51.7% of them were utilizing Government health care facilities which include Government hospital, PHC and sub-centers. 29 Maroof et al in their study in Aligarh also found 73.1% (285/390) elderly using allopathic system of medicine for illness. 30 Another important factor regarding health seeking behaviour of rural elderly is using over the counter medication from medical stores & quacks.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Sociodemographic status of elderly & pattern of health care utilization for respiratory diseases in NCR

Gupta¹,

Asthana²,

Gupta³

2022

JCHM

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Elderly population is increasing progressively all over the world. Diseases of respiratory system are important cause of morbidity & mortality in elderly. Health-care utilization is an important element of health care.Cross-sectional study of elderly aged 60yrs & above was conducted in urban & rural area of NCR & Ghaziabad district of Uttar Pradesh. First part included socio-demographic characteristics and self-reported co-morbidities. This first part screened out suspected respiratory cases and they were asked questionnaire regarding health care utilization. In urban 282/1522(18.5%) & in rural. 298/1503 (19.8%) were found to be suffering actually from respiratory illness. For chronic respiratory illness allopathic services were used by 91.8% (259/282) urban & 75.5% (225/298) rural elderly. Urban area were utilizing services of private health care providers most commonly. In our study 36.6% (109/298) & 20.5% (61/298) rural elderly were taking over the counter treatment from medical stores or going to a quack for acute & chronic respiratory illness respectively. During acute illness 60.7% (181/298) rural elderly choose health care service due to belief but during chronic illness only 51.3% (153/298) elderly stated it as a reason for choosing health care service. Affordability as a reason for selection of particular health service increased from 23.2% (69/298) in acute illness to 36.9% (110/298) in chronic illness.Majority of elderly are illiterate & dependent on family for support. Private health care services are preferred especially by urban elderly. Public healthcare services are used more for chronic illness than acute illness.

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“…The Present study showed that 59.8% study subjects in rural and 77.6% in urban areas availed treatment, and overall, 72.7% study subjects availing treatment. A study by Gnanasabai G et al (9) showed that 81.1 % study subjects were taking treatment. In Our study 27.8% females in rural areas and 53.0% females in urban areas availed treatment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

A comparative study on treatment seeking behaviour of geriatric population in rural and urban areas of district Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh

Ratan

Nigam

Midha³

et al. 2022

Indian J Community Health

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Background: Aging is a complex and universal life process. Treatment seeking behaviour in elderly is affected by socio-economic factors and by affordability, availability and accessibility of healthcare. Objectives: To study treatment-seeking behaviour of the study subjects. To compare treatment seeking behaviour among rural and urban study subjects. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in the Kanpur district. Selection of villages in rural and mohallas in urban areas was done using a multistage random sampling technique. A total of 600 subjects were studied, including 400 from urban areas and 200 from rural areas. Elderly persons>60 years of age, both males and females were included in the study. Results: Overall, out of 600 study subjects, 59.8% were taking treatment in rural areas and in urban areas 77.6% were taking treatment. In urban areas, more females availed treatment compared to rural areas. Majority of study subjects (56.5%) sought treatment from a government hospital. Only 36% subjects had health insurance. Conclusion: In Urban areas more subjects availed treatment as compared to rural areas. Majority of subjects sought treatment from government health facilities. Lack of financial support and long waiting time were major reasons for not availing health care.

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Health seeking behaviour of geriatric population in rural area of Puducherry: a community based cross sectional study

Cited by 7 publications

References 3 publications

Health-Seeking Behavior and Its Associated Technology Use: Interview Study Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Health-Seeking Behavior and Its Associated Technology Use: Interview Study Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Sociodemographic status of elderly & pattern of health care utilization for respiratory diseases in NCR

A comparative study on treatment seeking behaviour of geriatric population in rural and urban areas of district Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh

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