Health Care Utilization and Its Determinants of Workers with Non-occupational Diseases

Han, Chang Hyun; Kam, Sin; Park, Jae Yong

Abstract

This study was conducted to analyse medical facilities utilization based on predisposing factors, enabling factors and need factors, and effect of these factors on medieal facilities utilization, by applying Anderson's medical care service behavioral model as the most well known medical demand model to 163 available for interview among 246 workers who, as the result of health examination in 1994, were evaluated as the non occupational diseases. The results of this study were summarized as follows. Among variables of predisposing factors, knowledge for disease showed significant relations with the medical utilization, other variables of predisposing factors, such as sex, age, marital status, educational level, number of family members, type of occupation, attitude toward the disease, were not related with the medical utilization. The medical utilization was not related with variables of enabling factors. Among variables of need factors, medical advice of health personnel was significant variable for medical utilization. With multiple logistic regression analysis, the significant variables haying an effect on the medical facllities utilization were the type of occupation and knowledge for the disease among predisposing factors, ana seriousness for the disease and medical advice of health personnel among need factors. In case of the production job, the medical facilitles utilization was higher for the persons with more knowledge for disease and experience of medical treatment guidance. The number of non-occupational diseases detected, but untreated person was 76 (46.6%) of total subjects, mainly because the non-occupational diseases seemed to be a slight disease (55.3%). On consideration of above findings, health education for workers and adequate medical advice by health personnel would be needed for health management of workers with non occupational diseases.