Dataset Information

Identification of Unmet Healthcare Needs: A National Survey in Thailand.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

This study examined demographic factors hampering access to healthcare at hospitals and suggests policy approaches to improve healthcare management in Thailand.

Methods

The data for the study were drawn from a health and welfare survey conducted by the National Statistical Office of Thailand in 2017. The population-based health and welfare survey was systematically carried out by skilled interviewers, who polled 21 519 384 individuals. The independent variables related to demographic data (age, sex, religion, marital status, education, occupation, and area of residence), chronic diseases, and health insurance coverage. The dependent variable was the degree of access to healthcare. Multiple logistic regression analysis was subsequently performed on the variables found to be significant in the univariate analysis.

Results

Only 2.5% of the population did not visit a hospital when necessary for outpatient-department treatment, hospitalization, or the provision of oral care. The primary reasons people gave for not availing themselves of the services offered by government hospitals when they were ill were-in descending order of frequency-insufficient time to seek care, long hospital queues, travel inconvenience, a lack of hospital beds, unavailability of a dentist, not having someone to accompany them, and being unable to pay for the transportation costs. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that failure to access the health services provided at hospitals was associated with demographic, educational, occupational, health welfare, and geographic factors.

Conclusions

Accessibility depends not only on health and welfare benefit coverage, but also on socioeconomic factors and the degree of convenience associated with visiting a hospital.

SUBMITTER: Chongthawonsatid S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8046608 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:IntroductionOptimizing care for young adults with cerebral palsy is crucial for their physical and psychological well-being. The inadequacy of proximal environment may play a role in the provision of health services. The aim of this study is to explore the association between unmet environmental needs in the physical, social and attitudinal domains and unmet healthcare needs in four interventions: physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and psychological counselling.MethodsYoung adults with cerebral palsy were recruited in the SPARCLE3 European multicenter cross-sectional study. Healthcare needs and coverages were assessed using the Youth Health Care, Satisfaction, Utilization and Needs questionnaire. The need and availability of environmental factors in physical, social and attitudinal domains were collected using the European Adult Environment Questionnaire. Logistic regressions were conducted separately for each intervention to measure associations between unmet environmental needs and unmet healthcare needs.ResultsWe studied 310 young adults with cerebral palsy, with a mean age of 24.3 years; 37.4% could not walk independently, 51.5% had an IQ below 70, 34.2% had severe communication difficulties. The most commonly expressed need was physiotherapy (81.6% of participants). Unmet healthcare needs were reported by 20.9%, 32.4%, 40.3% and 49.0% of participants requiring physiotherapy, occupational therapy, psychological counselling and speech therapy, respectively. The physical environment was never significantly associated with unmet healthcare needs. In contrast, the social environment was significantly associated with unmet healthcare needs across all interventions, with odds ratios over 2.5, depending on the number of unmet needs and the nature of intervention needed. With regard to the attitudinal environment, when at least one unmet attitudinal environmental need was reported, the odds of also reporting an unmet healthcare need were of 3.68 for speech therapy and 3.77 for physiotherapy. The latter association was significant only for individuals with severe motor impairment.DiscussionOur results highlight the importance of the social and attitudinal environment in meeting healthcare needs in young adults with cerebral palsy. The lack of correlation between unmet healthcare needs and the physical environment suggests that it can be partly compensated for by social support.

Project description:Purpose/objectiveThe purpose of this study was to assess the frequency of unmet needs of carers among a convenience sample of carers, and the participant factors associated with unmet needs, to inform the development of interventions that will support a range of caregivers. The aims of this study were to: (1) assess the most frequently reported moderate-high unmet needs of caregivers; and (2) examine the age, gender, condition of the care recipient, and country variables associated with types of unmet needs reported by informal caregivers.Research method/designAn online cross-sectional survey among informal caregivers in English-speaking countries was conducted. Self-reported unmet needs were assessed using an unmet needs measure with the following five unmet needs domains: (1) Health information and support for care recipient; (2) Health service management; (3) Communication and relationship; (4) Self-care; and (5) Support services accessibility. Informal caregivers were asked "In the last month, what was your level of need for help with…", and the ten highest ranked moderate-high unmet needs presented as ranked proportions. Logistic regression modelling examined the factors associated with types of unmet needs.ResultsOverall, 457 caregivers were included in the final analysis. Seven of the ten highest ranked unmet needs experienced by caregivers in the last month were in the Self-care domain, including "Reducing stress in your life" (74.1%). Significant associations were found between younger caregiver age (18-45 years) and reporting moderate-high unmet needs in Health Information and support for care recipient, Health service management, and Support services accessibility (all p's = <0.05).Conclusions/implicationsCaregivers are not experiencing significant differences in unmet needs between countries and caree/care recipient conditions, suggesting that general interventions could be developed to support a range of caregivers across countries. Increased awareness of informal caregivers' unmet needs, particularly for younger caregivers, among health care providers may improve support provision to caregivers.