Health Care -Seeking Behavior in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

Objectives: The main objective of this study is to examine current patterns of health care-seeking behavior among residents in Tehran, 2008. Methods: A two stage cluster sampling method was used to select blocks at the first stage and households within them at the second. A total of 1882 individuals over 18 years resided in the households surveyed through an instrument. Validity and reliability of the instrument examined. Cronbach's alpha (r=.76) revealed high reliability coefficient. Exact fisher test, and multivariate logistic 2 regression were applied to analyze the data collected. Findings: 22/9% (431) of participants reported 1-2 times illness during the last month at the time of the study. The influence of various socio-demographic variables and perceived seriousness of illness on the decision of whether or not to seek care was analyzed with multivariate logistic regression. Conclusion: Findings suggest that increasing social awareness and self-consciousness about side effects of pharmaceuticals, continuous education and training of physicians and chemists, improving health insurance system and universal coverage may help both the health system to be performed appropriately and utilization of health care services, very effectively.