A comparison of health care utilization by husbands and wives.
A chart review of married couples seen in family practice compared husband-wife visit rates. Wives were found to utilize services significantly more often: for all visits, for all visits excluding those related to pregnancy, for well-care visits, for psychological support visits, and for somatic illness visits (including sex-related illnesses), but not for non-sex-related somatic illness visits. There was no significant correlation in visit-rate frequencies within husband-wife pairs.
D000328:Adult; D000488:Allied Health Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002140:California; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage; D008511:Medicine; D008875:Middle Aged; D010821:Physicians, Family / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012737:Sex Factors; D013038:Specialization; D013997:Time Factors