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Why do the sick not utilise health care? The case of Zambia

Hjortsberg, Catharina LU (2003) In Health Economics 12(9). p.755-770
Abstract
When ill the individual faces the options of seeking health care, using self-medication or doing nothing. In an economic perspective, an individual's propensity to utilise health care is determined by the costs of utilisation and the perceived benefits of health care. The propensity to utilise health care may hence be expected to vary between individuals. In this paper we attempt on the one hand to determine what factors influence sick individuals' propensity to seek health care at a health facility or use self-medication (or do nothing), and on the other hand attempt to determine the factors that influence the magnitude of their expenditures for health care, in particular what other factors than just health status influence utilisation.... (More)
When ill the individual faces the options of seeking health care, using self-medication or doing nothing. In an economic perspective, an individual's propensity to utilise health care is determined by the costs of utilisation and the perceived benefits of health care. The propensity to utilise health care may hence be expected to vary between individuals. In this paper we attempt on the one hand to determine what factors influence sick individuals' propensity to seek health care at a health facility or use self-medication (or do nothing), and on the other hand attempt to determine the factors that influence the magnitude of their expenditures for health care, in particular what other factors than just health status influence utilisation. For the empirical analysis, data, covering 9700 individuals, from the 1998 Living Conditions Monitoring Survey (LCMS) is used. We use a Multinomial Logit selection model to estimate the equation, which allows us to analyse health-care utilisation through two separate processes, the decision to seek care and the magnitude of expenditures incurred. In general, we find that the individuals are influenced by income, insurance, type of illness and access variables such as distance and owning a vehicle. Copyright (C) 2003 John Wiley Sons, Ltd. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
utilisation, expenditure, health care, self-medication
in
Health Economics
volume
12
issue
9
pages
755 - 770
publisher
John Wiley & Sons Inc.
external identifiers
  • wos:000185132100005
  • pmid:12950094
  • scopus:0043195516
ISSN
1099-1050
DOI
10.1002/hec.839
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
6eecc729-6d12-49b4-ad02-8d3b1c510c83 (old id 301751)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 12:03:15
date last changed
2022-03-28 19:34:14
@article{6eecc729-6d12-49b4-ad02-8d3b1c510c83,
  abstract     = {{When ill the individual faces the options of seeking health care, using self-medication or doing nothing. In an economic perspective, an individual's propensity to utilise health care is determined by the costs of utilisation and the perceived benefits of health care. The propensity to utilise health care may hence be expected to vary between individuals. In this paper we attempt on the one hand to determine what factors influence sick individuals' propensity to seek health care at a health facility or use self-medication (or do nothing), and on the other hand attempt to determine the factors that influence the magnitude of their expenditures for health care, in particular what other factors than just health status influence utilisation. For the empirical analysis, data, covering 9700 individuals, from the 1998 Living Conditions Monitoring Survey (LCMS) is used. We use a Multinomial Logit selection model to estimate the equation, which allows us to analyse health-care utilisation through two separate processes, the decision to seek care and the magnitude of expenditures incurred. In general, we find that the individuals are influenced by income, insurance, type of illness and access variables such as distance and owning a vehicle. Copyright (C) 2003 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.}},
  author       = {{Hjortsberg, Catharina}},
  issn         = {{1099-1050}},
  keywords     = {{utilisation; expenditure; health care; self-medication}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{9}},
  pages        = {{755--770}},
  publisher    = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
  series       = {{Health Economics}},
  title        = {{Why do the sick not utilise health care? The case of Zambia}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hec.839}},
  doi          = {{10.1002/hec.839}},
  volume       = {{12}},
  year         = {{2003}},
}