 |
The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
|
The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Ziya Gizlice and Harry Herrick. NC-SCHS, DPH, 1908 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1908, 919-715-4481, ziya.gizlice@ncmail.net
Objectives: The objective of this study is to quantify the extent of limited health care access among people with chronic illnesses, high-risk behaviors or non-compliant preventive health behaviors.
Methods: We used 1997-2000 survey data from the North Carolina Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) for this study. Limited health care access consisted of non-continuous health insurance coverage in the past year, not seeing a doctor due to cost, and no medical checkup in the past year. Persons with chronic disease conditions, health risks, and non-compliant preventive health care behaviors were compared to those without these risks or conditions. Odd ratios were adjusted for socio-demographics for each risk group using the SUDAAN software.
Results: With respect to demographic characteristics, household income, education, and age were strong predictors of the limited health care access. Persons with chronic health conditions were more likely to report cost as a barrier to health care than those without chronic health conditions. Persons with high-risk behaviors or non-compliant preventive health behavior were significantly more likely to report limited access to health care than those without high-risk behaviors or compliant preventive health behavior both before and after controlling for socio-demographics.
Conclusions: This study shows that persons with high medical and behavioral risks are generally more likely than persons of lower risk to have problems with access to health care. This relationship persists after controlling for sex, race, age, education, and income. Persons with these risks have lower access to health care despite a higher level of health care needs.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Access to Care, Health Behavior
Related Web page: www.schs.state.nc.us/SCHS/about/programs/brfss/publications.html
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.