Utilization of health services among the elderly at Lorestan province: a cross-sectional study

• Main Authors: Soheila Hasanvand, Mohammad-Hasan Imani-Nasab, Mehdi Birjandi, Roudbeh Omidifar, Jamil Sadegifar
• Format: Article
• Language: fas
• Published: Lorestan University of Medical Science 2019-11-01
• Series: Yafteh
• Subjects: the elderly; health services for the elderly; socioeconomic determinants; iran
• Online Access: http://yafte.lums.ac.ir/article-1-2847-en.html

Background: The age pyramid of our country is being reversed. Planning for the provision of healthcare services for the elderly requires the investigation of the factors affecting their utilization of health services. The aim of this study was to determine the availability of hearth services for the elderly at Lorestan province and the relationship between their utilization of these services with socioeconomic variables. Materials and Methods:  This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2017. The study population included the elderly discharged from the hospitals affiliated to Lorestan University of Medical Sciences in 2017. The data of 428 patients were collected during phone interviews. The collected data were analysed by SPSS-18 software and chi-square test, Mann-Whitney test, Spearman test, and independent t-test. Results: The rates of the utilization of medical and paramedical services in at least one occasion during the last three months among the studied elderly were 25.5% and 27.7%, respectivly. Utilization of health services was significantly affected by family structure, literacy status, residence of the patient (town or village), social origin (the residence until the age of 18), unemployment status, number of children, type of insurance, complementary insurance, having a chronic desease, self-evaluation of health status, satisfaction of the status quo, income, employment status, house ownership, and having a private room. However, there were not significant relationships between the elderly’s utilization of different health services and their gender, marital status, children’s location, and car ownership. Conclusion: Elderly people utilize different health services more than the general population. Considering the significant relationship between certain socioeconomic variables and the utilization of health services among the elderly, it is recommended that planning for the provision of health services to them should be based on the investigation of their utilization of health services and their determinants.