Descriptions of self-treatment for the middle-aged and elderly in Shanxi, China

Rui Wang, Chenjin Ma, Kun Jiang, Ming Li and Shuangge Ma

PLOS ONE, 2018, vol. 13, issue 6, 1-14

Abstract: Objectives: Self-treatment is a widespread practice among patients with common symptoms and ailments; it is necessary to explore multiple aspects of it. Notably, there is little research into self-treatment among middle-aged and elderly people, who are more likely to fall ill. Our goals are to provide a comprehensive description of self-treatment and explore associated factors with insurance utilization and expenditures among the middle-aged and elderly populations in China. Methods: A survey was conducted in July 2016 in Shanxi, China. A stratified sampling scheme was applied to achieve representativeness. A total of 972 subjects were surveyed. Descriptive statistics, t- and Chi-squared tests, multivariate logistic regression, and multivariate linear regression were utilized. Results: In our study, 772 (79.4%) of the surveyed subjects self-treated during the previous twelve months. Among them, 253 (32.8%) used health insurance. Subjects’ characteristics were associated with insurance utilization and expenditures for self-treatment. Total cost was positively associated with insurance utilization. The subjects with a junior high education (p-value

Date: 2018
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0198554

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0198554

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