J Korean Acad Fam Med.  2001 Nov;22(11):1612-1621.

Factors associated with possession of regular doctor in Korea

• Cho HJ
• Shim JY
• Lee HR
• Lee SH

Abstract

BACKGROUND: As patients can go to specialists and family doctors do not have gate-keeping role, doctor-shopping is very popular in Korea. The introduction of family doctor registration program is proposed several years ago, and the debate is still being done about that issue. This study is to show the possession rate of regular doctor and to investigate the factors associated with it.
METHODS
We interviewed 657 adults of Seoul, Bundang, Ilsan and Pyungchon with preformed questionnaire which included the questions about regular doctor and attitudes to the family doctor registration program. Respondents were sampled according to the age structure and population distribution of the cities.
RESULTS
About half of the respondents had regular doctor. Internists were regular doctors of nearly half of the respondents and pediatricians 30.6%, oriental doctors 5.6%, general surgeon 4.4%, and family doctors 3.8%. About half of the regular doctors worked in primary clinic and 48.2% in hospitals. The most important reason choosing regular doctor was distance to the medical facilities. The most frequently provided service by regular doctor was vaccination(57.1%), the least was home visit(2.9%). Factors associated with the possession of regular doctors were residence area, sex of respondents, level of income and education.
CONCLUSION
Nearly half of the respondents had regular doctors and half of the regular doctors were internists and worked in primary clinics. The area of residence, sex, income level, level of education, and interest for health were related with the possession of regular doctor.

Keyword

family practice; primary health care; Korea

MeSH Terms

Adult
Surveys and Questionnaires
Demography
Education
Family Practice
Humans
Korea*
Primary Health Care
Seoul
Specialization