title: Pattern of Ambulatory Care Visits to Obstetrician-Gynecologists in Taiwan: A Nationwide Analysis.
abstract: Although obstetrician-gynecologists (OB-GYNs) are the main actors in the provision of health care to women, their practice patterns have rarely been analyzed. The current study investigated the nationwide ambulatory visits to OB-GYNs in Taiwan using the National Health Insurance Research Database. From the 1/500 sampling datasets indicating 619,760 ambulatory visits in 2012, it was found that 5.8% (n = 35,697) of the visits were made to OB-GYNs. Two-fifths of the services provided were performed by male OB-GYNs aged 50-59 years. Women of childbearing age accounted for more than half of the visits to OB-GYNs (57.2%), and elderly patients above 60 years accounted for only 7.7%. The most frequent diagnoses were menstrual disorders and other forms of abnormal bleeding from the female genital tract (13.1%). Anti-infective agents were prescribed in 15.1% of the visits to OB-GYNs. The study revealed the proportion of aging practicing OB-GYNs, and our detailed results could contribute to evidence-based discussions on health policymaking.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, No. 201, Sec. 2, Shi-Pai Road, Taipei 112, Taiwan. nashsaka@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: An-Min
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Lynn
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, No. 201, Sec. 2, Shi-Pai Road, Taipei 112, Taiwan. larena_lai@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Li-Jung
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, No. 201, Sec. 2, Shi-Pai Road, Taipei 112, Taiwan. mhlin@vghtpe.gov.tw.|School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, No.155, Sec. 2, Linong Street, Taipei 112, Taiwan. mhlin@vghtpe.gov.tw.
authors.forename: Ming-Hwai
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, No. 201, Sec. 2, Shi-Pai Road, Taipei 112, Taiwan. phwang@vghtpe.gov.tw.|School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, No.155, Sec. 2, Linong Street, Taipei 112, Taiwan. phwang@vghtpe.gov.tw.
authors.forename: Tzeng-Ji
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, No. 201, Sec. 2, Shi-Pai Road, Taipei 112, Taiwan. phwang@vghtpe.gov.tw.|School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, No.155, Sec. 2, Linong Street, Taipei 112, Taiwan. phwang@vghtpe.gov.tw.
authors.forename: Shinn-Jang
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, No.155, Sec. 2, Linong Street, Taipei 112, Taiwan. phwang@vghtpe.gov.tw.|Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, No. 201, Sec. 2, Shi-Pai Road, Taipei 112, Taiwan. phwang@vghtpe.gov.tw.
authors.forename: Peng-Hui
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D006176:Gynecology; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009774:Obstetrics; D010820:Physicians; D013624:Taiwan; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: ambulatory visits; national health insurance; obstetrician-gynecologists