Bypassing primary care facilities: health-seeking behavior of middle age and older adults in China.

ABSTRACT:

Background

With economic development, aging of the population, improved insurance coverage, and the absence of a formal referral system, bypassing primary healthcare facilities appear to have become more common. Chinese patients tend to visit the secondary or tertiary healthcare facilities directly leading to overcrowding at the higher-level facilities. This study attempts to analyze the factors associated with bypassing primary care facilities among patients of age 45 years or older in China.

Methods

Random effects logistic models were used to examine bypassing of primary health facilities among rural-urban patients. Data from 2011 to 2015 waves of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study were used.

Results

Two in five older patients in China bypass primary

SUBMITTER: Li C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8406824 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature