Use of health services by the elderly in the Taipei area.

Abstract

This study examined the effects of the predisposing, enabling, and need characteristics on the use of health services by the elderly which includes hospital care, physician services, herb doctor services, self-medication with western drugs, and self-medication with herb drugs. The data for the analysis came from a household interview survey of 1,519 non-institutionalized elderly individuals residing in Taipei city and Taipei county. The results indicated that (1) the elderly tended to use health services frequently; (2) most of the explained variance of health services utilization could be attributed to the need variables as well as the enabling variables; and (3) the type of health services used was related to the regular medical care system selected and the type of health needs. The research and policy implications for delivering health care to the elderly were discussed.