Parisa Naseri; Bahman Ahadinejad; Mohammad Amerzadeh; Fariba Hashemi; Sima Rafiei
Abstract
Background: Ensuring equal utilization of health services has always been a priority in health systems globally. Iran implemented reforms such as the Health Transformation Plan (HTP), in which one objective was to reduce inequity in access to inpatient and outpatient services. These studies aimed to ...
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Background: Ensuring equal utilization of health services has always been a priority in health systems globally. Iran implemented reforms such as the Health Transformation Plan (HTP), in which one objective was to reduce inequity in access to inpatient and outpatient services. These studies aimed to measure inequality in health services utilization in Qazvin, Iran, and clarify inpatient and outpatient utilization patterns among socioeconomic subgroups of the population.Methods: This cross-sectional study recruited 442 households living in Qazvin, Iran, in 2019. We collected data using a tool that included demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status, and health services utilization. We applied the concentration index to measure inequality and performed data analysis using STATA 15.Results: Based on our estimates, the utilization rates of outpatient and inpatient services in the study sample were 0.89±1.39 and 0.45±0.94, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in the use of outpatient healthcare services in terms of gender and insurance coverage of the households, while literacy, age, and health condition had statistically significant effects on inpatient healthcare utilization (P<0.05). Furthermore, the marginal effects of age and literacy on the utilization of outpatient services were statistically significant (P<0.05), so that literacy and aging increased the outpatient HSU. Except for age, the marginal effects of other characteristics on the utilization of inpatient services were statistically significant (P<0.05).Conclusion: Our findings indicated that inequality in healthcare utilization reduced over time, showing that in addition to reducing inequality in HSU, population groups with lower socio-economic status have benefited more from both inpatient and outpatient services.
Parisa Neghab; Mryam Bakhtiar; Ali Golkari
Volume 5, Issue 2 , April 2017, , Pages 51-58
Abstract
Background: The present study was conducted to investigate the relationship between socioeconomic status of parents and their knowledge, attitude and tendency toward different forms of fluoride therapy for their 7-9 year-old primary school children in Shiraz.Methods: A total of 444 subjects were selected ...
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Background: The present study was conducted to investigate the relationship between socioeconomic status of parents and their knowledge, attitude and tendency toward different forms of fluoride therapy for their 7-9 year-old primary school children in Shiraz.Methods: A total of 444 subjects were selected through multi-stage random sampling. The subjects were parents of 7-9 year old boys and girls attending primary schools in 4 districts in Shiraz. They were asked to fill out a questionnaire containing a number of questions regarding their knowledge, attitudes and tendency toward fluoride therapy for their children.Results: The mean scores for parental knowledge, tendency and attitude toward fluoride therapy for their children were 8.05 ± 2.46, 3.38 ± 1.73 and 54.66 ± 5.89, respectively. As to the parental knowledge, 25.23% and 72.52% of the subjects had either poor or average knowledge, respectively. Similarly, about 32% and 39.6% of the parents had a poor or average tendency toward fluoride therapy and 42.57% and 57.43% of them held a strong or mild positive attitude toward it, respectively.Conclusions: The findings of the present study indicated that the majority of parents did not have sufficient knowledge about different types of fluoride therapy and their caries-preventive effect. They lacked a positive attitude and a strong tendency to practice fluoride therapy for their children. There was a significant association between socioeconomic status of parents and their knowledge, attitude and tendency toward fluoride therapy for their children.
