title: Multilevel Modeling and Policy Development: Guidelines and Applications to Medical Travel.
abstract: Medical travel has expanded rapidly in recent years, resulting in new markets and increased access to medical care. Whereas several studies investigated the motives of individuals seeking healthcare abroad, the conventional analytical approach is limited by substantial caveats. Classical techniques as found in the literature cannot provide sufficient insight due to the nested nature of data generated. The application of adequate analytical techniques, specifically multilevel modeling, is scarce to non-existent in the context of medical travel. This study introduces the guidelines for application of multilevel techniques in public health research by presenting an application of multilevel modeling in analyzing the decision-making patterns of potential medical travelers. Benefits and potential limitations are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Policy Research Group, Department of Psychology, University of CambridgeCambridge, UK; Departamento de Psicología Social y Metodología, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Autónoma de MadridMadrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Garcia-Garzon
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhukovsky
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Clinical Psychology with Focus on Psychotherapy Research, University of Zurich Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Haller
authors.affiliation: Unit for Paediatric and Adolescent Psychiatry, Division of Paediatrics, University Medical Centre Maribor Maribor, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Plakolm
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, University of Zurich Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fink
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Psychology, Mind, Brain, and Behavior Research Center, University of Granada Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Dafina
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Petrova
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: Vaishali
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mahalingam
authors.affiliation: Quantitative Methods and Predictive Psychometrics, Institute of Psychology, Federal University of Bahia Salvador, Brazil.
authors.forename: Igor G
authors.initials: IG
authors.lastname: Menezes
authors.affiliation: Policy Research Group, Department of Psychology, University of CambridgeCambridge, UK; Department of Engineering, Engineering Design Centre, University of CambridgeCambridge, UK.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ruggeri
keywords: hierarchical linear model; medical tourism; medical travel; multilevel model; policy; policy research; public health