Healthcare utilisation among the Belgian elderly in relation to their socio-economic status

Hoeck, Sarah; François, Guido; Heyden, Johan Van der; Geerts, Joanna; Hal, Guido Van

doi:10.1016/j.healthpol.2010.08.010

Cited by 18 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…On the contrary, earning wages increased access to healthcare in the last 30 days for older persons. Household income has been reported as a significant enabling factor for access to healthcare both in developed [39-42] and developing countries like Brazil [43]. In developing countries, the available evidence indicates that access to healthcare is pro-rich households for example in Ghana [44], India [45], Hong Kong [46] and China [47].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determinants of access to healthcare by older persons in Uganda: a cross-sectional study

Wandera

Kwagala

Ntozi

2015

Int J Equity Health

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BackgroundOlder persons report poor health status and greater need for healthcare. However, there is limited research on older persons’ healthcare disparities in Uganda. Therefore, this paper aimed at investigating factors associated with older persons’ healthcare access in Uganda, using a nationally representative sample.MethodsWe conducted secondary analysis of data from a sample of 1602 older persons who reported being sick in the last 30 days preceding the Uganda National Household Survey. We used frequency distributions for descriptive data analysis and chi-square tests to identify initial associations. We fit generalized linear models (GLM) with the poisson family and the log link function, to obtain incidence risk ratios (RR) of accessing healthcare in the last 30 days, by older persons in Uganda.ResultsMore than three quarters (76%) of the older persons accessed healthcare in the last 30 days. Access to healthcare in the last 30 days was reduced for older persons from poor households (RR = 0.91, 95% CI: 0.83-0.99); with some walking difficulty (RR = 0.90, 95% CI: 0.83-0.97); or with a lot of walking difficulty (RR = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.75-0.95). Conversely, accessing healthcare in the last 30 days for older persons increased for those who earned wages (RR = 1.08, 95% CI: 1.00-1.15) and missed work due to illness for 1–7 days (RR = 1.19, 95% CI: 1.10-1.30); and 8–14 days (RR = 1.19, 95% CI: 1.07-1.31). In addition, those who reported non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart disease, hypertension or diabetes (RR = 1.09, 95% CI: 1.01-1.16); were more likely to access healthcare during the last 30 days.ConclusionIn the Ugandan context, health need factors (self-reported NCDs, severity of illness and mobility limitations) and enabling factors (household wealth status and earning wages in particular) were the most important determinants of accessing healthcare in the last 30 days among older persons.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12939-015-0157-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determinants of access to healthcare by older persons in Uganda: a cross-sectional study

Wandera

Kwagala

Ntozi

2015

Int J Equity Health

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“…Some of these studies have found there to be a certain degree of pro-poor inequity related to the use of general practitioner (GP) services. While this pattern is known to hold specifically for the elderly sector of the population in some countries [12][13][14][15][16], for most health care systems there has been little research on this subject. Furthermore, although a number of scientific papers also explore the sources of inequality in health care utilization [1,4,5,[8][9][10][11]17], there is no evidence about the decomposition of inequality for the elderly.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Equity and equality in the use of GP services for elderly people: The Spanish case

Cebada

Urbanos-Garrido

2012

Health Policy

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“…Although lower SE groups in the Belgian elderly population use primary care more frequently than higher educated groups [2,50], and GP’s can offer lower SE groups to measure blood cholesterol and blood sugar (and pneumococcal immunization) more often, they still seem less likely to use such preventive care. Further research is needed to evaluate if the SE gradient in preventive care use increases after adjustment for GP contacts.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While primary prevention (immunization) could prevent health problems, secondary prevention or early diagnosis (blood cholesterol and blood sugar measurement) gives opportunities for better treatment. Literature reveals inequities in health service utilization [2,3] and in preventive care use [4,5,6,7]. Prevention is one of many strategies to achieve healthy ageing [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preventive Care Use among the Belgian Elderly Population: Does Socio-Economic Status Matter?

Hoeck

Heyden

Geerts

et al. 2013

IJERPH

Self Cite

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Abstract:Objective: To analyze the association between influenza and pneumococcus vaccination and blood cholesterol and blood sugar measurement by Belgian elderly respondents (≥65 years) and socio-demographic characteristics, risk factors, health status and socio-economic status (SES). Methods: A cross-sectional study based on 4,544 non-institutionalized elderly participants of the Belgian Health Interview Surveys 2004 and 2008. Multivariate logistic regression models were constructed to examine the independent effect of socio-demographic characteristics, risk factors, health status and SES on the four preventive services. Results: After adjustment for age, sex, region, survey year, living situation, risk factors (body mass index, smoking status, physical activity) and health status (self-assessed health and longstanding illness) lower educated elderly were significantly less likely to report a blood cholesterol and blood sugar measurement. For instance, elderly participants with no degree or only primary education were less likely to have had a cholesterol and blood sugar measurement compared with those with higher education. Pneumococcus vaccination was not related to educational level, but lower income groups were more likely to have had a pneumococcus immunization. Influenza vaccination was not significantly related to SES.

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Healthcare utilisation among the Belgian elderly in relation to their socio-economic status

Cited by 18 publications

References 32 publications

Determinants of access to healthcare by older persons in Uganda: a cross-sectional study

Determinants of access to healthcare by older persons in Uganda: a cross-sectional study

Equity and equality in the use of GP services for elderly people: The Spanish case

Preventive Care Use among the Belgian Elderly Population: Does Socio-Economic Status Matter?

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