The utilization of health care by the elderly with chronic health problems in Kaohsiung City

: The purpose of this study was (1) to ascertain whether or not the elderly utilized the health care system and did follow-up after the initial free health check-up and screening; (2) to investigate the types of chronic health problems the elderly who utilize health care had and their reasons for using the health care system; and (3) to explore related factors that influence the utilization of health care by the elderly. In this study, 484 elderly individuals were interviewed by home visits. All names were from the 11 public health clinics in Kaohsiung City, and all subjects had been diagnosed with one of the following disorders: heart disease, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, liver and biliary disorder, urinary disorder, or lung disease. Data were statistically analyzed by means of descriptive and analytical methods, %, t-test, Chi-Square test and odds ratio. The major findings of this study were as follows: (1) the utilization rate by chronically ill elderly was 80.2%. (2) elderly with multiple utilization of the health care system comprised 33.8%. (3) the variables influencing the utilization of the health care system included: perceived susceptibility, fixed physician, medical insurance, doctor's attitude, social support, community health nurse follow-up, the number of diseases, perceived severity of the illness, and attitude of health.