title: Healthcare seeking behaviour among Chinese elderly.
abstract: Purpose The Chinese population is rapidly ageing before they are rich. The purpose of this paper is to describe healthcare seeking behaviour and the critical factors associated with healthcare seeking behaviour. Design/methodology/approach Using a purposive sampling method, the authors recruited 44 adults aged 60 years or older from three provinces, representing the developed (Shanghai), undeveloped (Ningxia) regions and the regions in between (Hubei). From July to September 2008, using a semi-structured guide, the authors interviewed participants in focus group discussions. Findings The healthcare needs for chronic and catastrophic diseases were high; however, the healthcare demands were low and healthcare utilizations were even lower owing to the limited accessibility to healthcare services, particularly, in underdeveloped rural areas. "Too expensive to see a doctor" was a prime complaint, explaining substantial discrepancies between healthcare needs, demands and use. Care seeking behaviour varied depending on insurance availability, perceived performance, particularly hospital services, and prescription medications. Participants consistently rated increasing healthcare accessibility as a high priority, including offering financial aid, and improving service convenience. Improving social security fairness was the first on the elderly's wish list. Originality/value Healthcare demand and use were lower than needs, and were influenced by multiple factors, primarily, service affordability and efficiency, perceived performance and hospital service quality.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Health Technology Assessment (Ministry of Health), Department of Social Medicine, School of Public Health, Fudan University , Shanghai, China.|Department of Social Medicine and Health Education, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University , Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Health Technology Assessment (Ministry of Health), Department of Social Medicine, School of Public Health, Fudan University , Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Sampling and Survey, Center for Health, Statistics and Information, National Health and Family Planning Commission of the People's Republic of China, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Medicine, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.|Division of Chronic Diseases Prevention and Control, Bureau of Disease Prevention and Control, National Health and Family Planning Commission of the People's Republic of China, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zhenhong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Division of Chronic Diseases Prevention and Control, Bureau of Disease Prevention and Control, National Health and Family Planning Commission of the People's Republic of China, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health, Georgia Southern University , Statesboro, Georgia, USA.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Health Technology Assessment (Ministry of Health), Department of Social Medicine, School of Public Health, Fudan University , Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yan
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D005102:Health Expenditures; D006296:Health Services / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology*; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: Demand; Elderly; Healthcare seeking behaviour; Need; Utilization