Pattern of Ambulatory Care Visits to Obstetrician-Gynecologists in Taiwan: A Nationwide Analysis

An-Min Lynn, Li-Jung Lai, Ming-Hwai Lin, Tzeng-Ji Chen, Shinn-Jang Hwang and Peng-Hui Wang
Additional contact information
An-Min Lynn: Department of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, No. 201, Sec. 2, Shi-Pai Road, Taipei 112, Taiwan
Li-Jung Lai: Department of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, No. 201, Sec. 2, Shi-Pai Road, Taipei 112, Taiwan
Ming-Hwai Lin: Department of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, No. 201, Sec. 2, Shi-Pai Road, Taipei 112, Taiwan
Tzeng-Ji Chen: Department of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, No. 201, Sec. 2, Shi-Pai Road, Taipei 112, Taiwan
Shinn-Jang Hwang: Department of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, No. 201, Sec. 2, Shi-Pai Road, Taipei 112, Taiwan
Peng-Hui Wang: School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, No.155, Sec. 2, Linong Street, Taipei 112, Taiwan

IJERPH, 2015, vol. 12, issue 6, 1-10

Abstract: Although obstetrician-gynecologists (OB-GYNs) are the main actors in the provision of health care to women, their practice patterns have rarely been analyzed. The current study investigated the nationwide ambulatory visits to OB-GYNs in Taiwan using the National Health Insurance Research Database. From the 1/500 sampling datasets indicating 619,760 ambulatory visits in 2012, it was found that 5.8% (n = 35,697) of the visits were made to OB-GYNs. Two-fifths of the services provided were performed by male OB-GYNs aged 50–59 years. Women of childbearing age accounted for more than half of the visits to OB-GYNs (57.2%), and elderly patients above 60 years accounted for only 7.7%. The most frequent diagnoses were menstrual disorders and other forms of abnormal bleeding from the female genital tract (13.1%). Anti-infective agents were prescribed in 15.1% of the visits to OB-GYNs. The study revealed the proportion of aging practicing OB-GYNs, and our detailed results could contribute to evidence-based discussions on health policymaking.

Keywords: obstetrician-gynecologists; national health insurance; ambulatory visits (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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