Unmet needs for health care.
OBJECTIVE
This analysis examines the prevalence of self-reported unmet needs for health care and the extent to which they were attributable to perceived problems with service availability or accessibility or acceptability.


METHODS
Most data are from the 1998/99 cross-sectional household component of Statistics Canada's National Population Health Survey; 1994/95 and 1996/97 cross-sectional data are used to present trends from 1994/95 to 1998/99. The primary analysis is based on 14, 143 respondents aged 18 or older.


METHODS
Multivariate logistic regression was used to estimate the association of risk factors with the three types of unmet health care need.


RESULTS
In 1998/99, about 7% of Canadian adults, an estimated 1.5 million, reported having had unmet health care needs in the previous year. Around half of these episodes were attributable to acceptability problems such as being too busy. In 39% of cases, service availability problems, such as long waiting times, were mentioned. Just under 13% of episodes were related to accessibility problems (cost or transportation). Unmet needs attributable to service availability problems were not significantly associated with socio-economic status. By contrast, unmet needs due to accessibility problems were inversely associated with household income.
Chen
Jiajian
J
Health Statistics Division, Statistics Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0T6. chenjia@statcan.ca
Hou
Feng
F
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002170:Canada; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014850:Waiting Lists