title: Body awareness and medical care utilization among older adults in an HMO.
abstract: This study investigated the association between the disposition of body awareness and medical care utilization among older adult members of a health maintenance organization (HMO). Results indicated that higher levels of body awareness are associated significantly with longitudinal increases in the volume of patient-initiated illness visits to the HMO, and with a greater likelihood of patient-initiated contact with the hospital emergency room, controlling for prior utilization, self-reported health status, and other factors. In contrast, body awareness was not associated significantly with longitudinal changes in physician-initiated follow-up visits, internal referrals, external referrals, or hospital inpatient days. Other findings indicated that higher levels of patient-initiated utilization were associated with greater physician-initiated utilization, controlling for prior utilization. These results illustrate how patient-initiated utilization may influence subsequent physician-initiated utilization.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging Research, Rutgers University.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hansell
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sherman
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mechanic
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006279:Health Maintenance Organizations / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care