Living environment, social support, and informal caregiving are associated with healthcare seeking behaviour and adherence to medication treatment: A cross‐sectional population study

Abstract

Despite the well‐known associations between local environment and health, few studies have focused on environment and healthcare utilisation, for instance healthcare seeking behaviour or adherence. This study was aimed at analysing housing type, behaviour based on perceived local outdoor safety, social support, informal caregiving, demographics, socioeconomics, and long‐term illness, and associations with health‐seeking and adherence behaviours at a population level. This study used data from the Swedish National Public Health Survey 2004–2014, an annually repeated, large sample, cross‐sectional, population‐based survey study. In all, questionnaires from 100,433 individuals were returned by post, making the response rate 52.9% (100,433/190,000). Descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regressions were used to investigate associations between explanatory variables and the outcomes of refraining from seeking care and non‐adherence behaviour. Living in rented apartment, lodger, a dorm or other was associated with reporting refraining from seeking care (adjusted OR 1.16, 95% CI 1.00–1.22), and non‐adherence (adjusted OR 1.22; 95% CI 1.13–1.31). Refraining from going out due to a perceived unsafe neighbourhood was associated with refraining from seeking care (adjusted OR 1.59, 95% CI 1.51–1.67) and non‐adherence (adjusted OR 1.26, 95% CI 1.17–1.36). Social support and status as an informal caregiver was associated with higher odds of refraining from seeking medical care and non‐adherence. This study suggests that living in rental housing, refraining from going out due to neighbourhood safety concerns, lack of social support or informal caregiver status are associated with lower health‐seeking behaviour and non‐adherence to prescribed medication.

Examining the association between perceived neighbourhood safety and health services utilization: A cross-sectional study among older adults in the United States of America

“…16 Research has also shown that refraining from going out due to fear of being the victim of a crime was associated with not seeking needed medical care. 22 The current analyses show that those with perceptions of greater neighbourhood safety were more likely to have contact with a physician and more likely to receive any health services use, which aligns with the previous study done in Sweden, 22 and is further support showing that perceived safety is associated with health seeking behaviours.…”

“…21 While we know a lot about the negative health and social consequences of fear, we know little about the association of fear of neighbourhood crime and health services use. One previous study in Sweden found that refraining from going out due to fear of being the victim of a crime was associated with not seeking needed medical care, 22 and a recent study of one county in the US found that those with an unfavourable perception of their physical environment were more likely to lack a usual source of care and reported longer lapses in time between routine health care visits. 23 More studies are needed to better understand whether this relationship is consistent throughout the US and in other health systems.…”

Health Information Orientation Profiles and Their Association with Knowledge of Antibiotic Use in a Population with Good Internet Access: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…A previous study has shown that individuals with LL-HIO preferred passive information sources (such as the television and radio) to the Internet or newspapers/magazines [ 20 ]. Furthermore, based on the findings from a 10-year population-based survey conducted in Sweden, lower socio-economic status and lack of social support and informal caregiving were associated with poor health-seeking behaviour, i.e., seeking medical care in the study context [ 34 ]. Hence, there is a need for deeper and more extensive social outreach to actively disseminate health information, for example on appropriate antibiotic use and AMR, to these sub-populations, as they are less likely to present themselves to a healthcare facility or have interest to actively seek out health information.…”

Social capital and cost-related medication nonadherence (CRN): A retrospective longitudinal cohort study using the Health and Retirement Study data, 2006–2016

“…Conversely, exposure to negative social support in the form of additional stress and demands of relationships triggers the absence of the feeling of belonging and acceptance by peers, thus diminishing sense of control and mental wellbeing ( Mirowsky & Ross, 2003 ). Berglund et al found negative social support to be related to nonadherence ( Berglund, Lytsy, & Westerling, 2019 ). Similarly, another study found a higher risk of mortality among older women with lack of emotional support ( Lyyra & Heikkinen, 2006 ).…”