Factors Related to Primary Health Care Provision: A Cross-Sectional Study in an Elderly Rural Population

Abstract

We examined the relationship between social support, lifestyle habits, and disease-related factors in two primary health care settings: the health care center and the elders’ homes. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the effect of independent variables on the provision of health care services. Those who received home visits were significantly older, had lower family income, and had poorer social support systems. Furthermore, elderly people with nutritional risk status, heart failure, functional dependence, or cognitive impairment were among those most likely to request in-home care visits. Our study suggests that age, nutritional risk, and functional dependence are the most important factors to predict the use of home health care services compared with general practitioner visits.

KEYWORDS:

• elderly
• health care services
• risk factors

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors sincerely thank the participants in the study for helping to increase the knowledge of primary health care. The authors declare that they have no competing interests.