title: Sociodemographic and socioeconomic determinants of health services utilization in Greece: the Hellas Health I study.
abstract: The purpose of the study was to estimate the demographic and socioeconomic determinants of utilization of the Greek primary and hospital health care services. Data were obtained from the cross-sectional nationwide household survey Hellas Health I (2006). The sample (N = 1005) was representative of the Greek adult population in terms of age and residency, and was selected by means of a three-stage, proportional-to-size sampling design. The presence of a family doctor was reported in a higher degree by participants of higher social classes and private insurance. After adjusting for self-perceived general health and chronic illness, contacts with health care professionals during the past four weeks were found less for residents of rural areas, while contacts with health care professionals during the past 12 months were found less for men than women, for individuals without private insurance and for individuals of lower education. More out-of-pocket payments were reported by the 34-44 age group, rural area residents and individuals with private insurance. Higher use of private health care services was reported by participants of higher social classes and residents of rural areas and private insurance. Only hospital admissions were not directly influenced by demographic and socioeconomic factors. The findings imply the existence of inequities in access and use of primary health services with clear implications to related policies.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health Services Research, Medical School University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Yannis
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tountas
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Oikonomou
authors.forename: Georgia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pallikarona
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dimitrakaki
authors.forename: Chara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tzavara
authors.forename: Kyriakos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Souliotis
authors.forename: Anargiros
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mariolis
authors.forename: Evelina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pappa
authors.forename: Nick
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kontodimopoulos
authors.forename: Dimitris
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Niakas
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece / Q000453:epidemiology; D006296:Health Services / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007348:Insurance, Health / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012923:Social Class; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D055815:Young Adult