BACKGROUND Socioeconomic differences in health and in use of health care are well known. Most data on socioeconomic differences in health care utilization are based on retrospective self-report in community surveys, but the evidence on the validity of self-reported utilization of health care across socioeconomic groups is limited. The aim of this study was to assess the validity of self-reporte...

We examine the marginal effects of decentralized public health spending by incorporating estimates of behavioural responses to changes in health spending in benefit incidence analysis. The analysis is based on a panel dataset of 207 Indonesian districts over the period from 2001 to 2004. We show that district public health spending is largely driven by central government transfers, with an elas...

BACKGROUND The utilization of oral health services in children remains at a relatively low level in China. However, little is known about the utilization patterns and related factors. The objective of this study was to explore the patterns of oral health service utilization and to determine the related factors among preschool children in Beijing, China, based on the Andersen behavioral model. ...

This paper uses the quasi-experimental implementation of a non-contributory pension scheme in Yucatan, Mexico to evaluate the health care utilization and expenditure responses of the elderly to an exogenous unanticipated income shock. Using a difference-in-difference approach and data from a longitudinal aging survey we find evidence that non-contributory pensions encourages the use of formal h...

OBJECTIVE We examine the impact of two dimensions of access-geographic accessibility and availability-on VA health system and mental health treatment retention among patients with serious mental illness (SMI). METHODS Among 156,631 patients in the Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder in fiscal year 1998 (FY98), we used Cox proportional hazards regres...

Population-based prescription databases in Nordic countries have become a mainstay of epidemiologic research. Denmark has both national and regional population-based prescription databases. Aarhus University Prescription Database collects data on reimbursed medications dispensed at all community pharmacies of the North Denmark Region and the Central Denmark Region. The regions have a combined p...

Current studies on the utilization of maternal care services in India focus on individual factors. In the present study, we use the theoretical model developed by Andersen and Newman [1973. Societal and individual determinants of medical care utilization in the United States. Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly, 51(1), 95-124] to understand the utilization of maternal care services in rural areas o...

Traditional measurement models of health care utilization are not able to represent the complex structure of health care utilization. In this qualitative study, we, therefore, developed a new model to represent the health care utilization structure. In Norway and Germany, we conducted episodic interviews, participant observation and a concurrent context analysis. Data was analyzed by thematic c...