Association between purpose in life and healthcare use among women and men in Germany: cross-sectional analysis of the nationally representative German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) study.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

It remains almost unknown whether purpose in life is associated with healthcare use (HCU) in general. Therefore, the goal of this study was to examine the association between purpose in life and HCU (in terms of frequency of outpatient physician visits and hospitalisation) stratified by sex.

Design

Cross-sectional study.

Setting and participants

A representative sample of the general adult population in Germany (n=1238; collected from September 2020 to February 2021); taken from the innovation sample of the German Socio-Economic Panel.

Outcome measures

The frequency of outpatient physician visits in the past 3 months was used as first outcome measure. Hospitalisation in the last 12 months was used as the second outcome measure. Purpose in life was qu

SUBMITTER: Hajek A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9207899 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature