title: Inequality in Utilization of In-patients Health Services in Iran.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Health services for those in need. Inpatient care shows a more serious side of individual care and patients and their family members perceive a high level of stress and urge. We conducted this study to determine inequalities of in-patient health care utilization in Iranian people and to assess factors that influence utilization.
  
  
  METHODS
  In each province, the sample was comprised of 380 urban and 380 rural households that were recruited by a systematic random sampling method. A total of 23,560 households, which included around 102,000 individuals were recruited. We used the questionnaire for data collection. Met admission need (MAN) was the main variable and was considered household assets for determining the economic status. We did all analyses using the STATA version 9.1.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The rates of MAN for urban and rural areas were 83% and 81.3% respectively. The rate of MAN was significantly higher in patients with higher educational level. Patients with primary health insurance coverage had significantly higher rate of MAN.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Meeting admission needs was estimated around 84% and it seems that modifying insurance coverage is the most feasible intervention for increasing utilization of health services.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Faculty of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Koorosh
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Etemad
authors.affiliation: Department of Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran ; Genomic Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Parvin
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Yavari
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Yadollah
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mehrabi
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Modeling in Health, Institute of Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Aliakbar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Haghdoost
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran ; Bureau of Family Health, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Esmaeel
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Motlagh
authors.affiliation: Health Services Management, Health Management and Social Development Research Center, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, School of Management and Medical Information Sciences, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Javad
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Kabir
authors.affiliation: Health Management and Social Development Research Center, Social Medicine Group, Faculty of Medicine, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran.
authors.forename: Nahid
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jafari
keywords: Inequality; inpatients; met admission need; utilization