FACTORS AFFECTING HEALTH SEEKING BEHAVIOR OF PEOPLE IN EJIN HORO COUNTY, CHINA

Abstract

This study aims to explore health seeking behavior in Ejin Horo county, China, specifically it tries to assess how socioeconomic-demographic factors and health literacy affect the decision to use formal outpatient care and conditioning on use the choice among the three-tiered health care facilities visited by people in Ejin Horo county, China during the period of 2016. Our attention is placed on the demand side because Ejin Horo county is the most powerful county in Inner Mongolia and the supply of health services in this county is quite comprehensive. In essence, the study on health seeking behavior will be able to shed some light on the prospect of the country in reducing the overcrowding in secondary and tertiary health care facilities. A cross-sectional data called “Community Survey of Ejin Horo County 2016” is used for the study. The econometric methods employed for this study consist of binary logit and ordered logit regressions as well as descriptive statistical approach at the initial stage of the analysis. Thereafter, marginal effect corresponding to each factor is calculated to give the magnitude of the impact of each socioeconomic and demographic factors and health literacy on the probability of seeking formal outpatient care and the probability of choosing each health care facilities. The results indicate that being Han ethnic and having adequate health literacy will reduce the use of formal outpatient care. While the people with emergency disease and people with primary education level have the tendency to use more of formal outpatient care when sick during the two weeks prior to the interview. And among those who seek formal outpatient service, people with college education or above, retired, being in the highest income quartile, having knowledge-based health literacy, or having emergency diseases are more inclined to visit tertiary and secondary health care facilities comparing to their relevant counterparts. While people with belief or behavioral components of health literacy are more likely to visit primary health care facilities when they were sick during the last two weeks.