Opposite poles: A comparison between two Spanish regions in health-related quality of life, with implications for health policy

Oliva‐Moreno, Juan; Zozaya, Néboa; López-Valcarcel, Beatríz González

doi:10.1186/1471-2458-10-576

Cited by 12 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…According to a recent study [ 39 ] there are significant shortages of medical and nursing staff and the essential equipment is limited in the majority of health centers in the rural setting. Furthermore, rural residents have to overcome certain obstacles when trying to access health services, like longer travelling distances and lack of transportation [ 17 , 40 ], especially in remote places. These constrains are expected to have an effect upon the most vulnerable individuals i.e individuals of a low socio-economic status.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do place of residence and ethnicity affect health services utilization? evidence from greece

Lahana

Pappa

Niakas

2011

International Journal for Equity in Health

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BackgroundEqual utilization of health services for equal need, is one of the main targets for public health systems. Given the public-private structure of the Greek NHS, the main aim of the study was to investigate the impact of underlying factors, such as health care needs, socio-demographic characteristics and ethnicity, on the utilization of primary and hospital health care in an urban and rural population of the Greek region, Thessaly.MethodsA cross-sectional study was carried out in 2006 in Thessaly, a Greek region of Central Greece, in a representative sample of 1372 individuals (18+ years old, response rate 91.4%) via face-to-face interview. Health care needs were determined by self-perceived health status estimated by the SF-36 Health Survey, using the summary scores of physical and mental health. The utilization of primary care was measured by last month visits to 1) primary public services and 2) private practitioners visits and utilization of secondary care was measured by past year visits to 3) public hospital emergency departments and 4) admissions to public hospitals. Multivariable stepwise logistic regression analysis was applied in the whole sample and separately for the urban and rural population, in order to determine the predictors of health services utilization. Statistical significance was determined with a p value < 0.05.ResultsHealth care needs were the most significant determinants of primary and secondary health services utilization in both the urban and rural areas. Poor physical and mental health was associated with higher likelihood of use. In the urban areas middle-aged, elderly and Greeks were more likely to use primary health services, whereas primary education was associated with more visits to the emergency departments. Wealthier individuals were two times more likely to be admitted to hospitals. Individuals from the rural areas with university education visited more the public primary services, while wealthier individuals visited more the private practitioners. Immigrants had a higher likelihood of visiting emergency departments.ConclusionsAlthough health care needs were the main determinant of health services utilization in both the urban and rural population, socio-economic and ethnic differences also seem to contribute to the inequities observed in some types of health services use, favouring the better-off. Such findings provide important information to policy makers, which attempt to reduce inequalities in health care according to place of residence and ethnicity.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do place of residence and ethnicity affect health services utilization? evidence from greece

Lahana

Pappa

Niakas

2011

International Journal for Equity in Health

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“…For this reason, at the moment, we considered more interesting to show, in a descriptive way, the HRQOL of people that suffer a chronic disease in comparison with general population. Other studies analyzed the association between HRQOL and socioeconomic health determinants in Canary Island [ 43 ] using more sophisticated statistical techniques [ 43 ]. Finally, the different data sources evaluated in the paper were developed at different time frames.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health related quality of life of Canary Island citizens

et al. 2010

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BackgroundThe aim of the study was to describe the health-related quality of life of Canarian population using information from the Canary Island Health Survey and three observational studies developed in the Canary Islands.MethodsA descriptive analysis was carried out on a sample of 5.549 Canarian citizens using information from 2004 Canary Island Health Survey and three observational studies on Alzheimer's disease, Stroke and HIV. EQ-5 D was the generic tool used for revealing quality of life of people surveyed. Besides the rate of people reporting moderate or severe decrease in quality of life, TTO-index scores and visual analogue scale were used for assessing health related quality of life of people that suffer a specific diseases and general population.ResultsSelf-perceived health status of citizens that suffer chronic diseases of high prevalence, identifies by the Canary Island Health Survey and other diseases such Alzheimer's disease, Stroke and HIV, independently examined in observational studies, are worse than self-perceived health of general population. Depression/anxiety and pain/discomfort were identified as the dimensions of the EQ-5 D with highest prevalence of problems. Alzheimer's disease and stroke were the illnesses with greater loss of quality of life.ConclusionsHealth related quality of life should be integrated into a set of information along with expectancy of life, incidence and prevalence of chronic diseases for developing health policy and planning health care activities The combination of information on health related quality of life from population health surveys with data from observational studies enlarges the sources of relevant information for setting health priorities and assessing the impact of health policies.

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“…While it is true that men have higher mortality rates at most, if not all, ages than women [2,3], this is not the only gender difference in health. Men self report better health [4,5] and higher quality of life than women [6,7], regardless of their increased mortality rates. Consequently, despite the fact that men die at younger ages than women, men are not correspondingly reporting poorer health.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Female Choice and Male Stoicism

Brown¹,

Shirachi²,

Danielle³

2018

J Evol Med

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Men consistently report that they are healthier than women but have higher mortality rates. We hypothesized that men were sexually selected to present themselves as healthy to possible mates, according to predictions from health selection theory. The present study tested this theory by contrasting known influences of female mate choice with male's reactions to a health problem (flu symptoms, reaction to vog (air pollution associated with volcanic emissions in the Hawaiian islands) or a headache). Participants viewed three sets of slides contrasting male facial symmetry, physique, and status with stoicism (defined as ignoring a health problem) and were asked to choose which male they preferred as a long-term or a short-term mate. Participants preferred stoic men who worked even though they were experiencing health problems as long-term mates, disregarding the male's facial symmetry and physique. Status also significantly affected long-term mate choice. In short-term mate choice, participants shifted their preferences to symmetrical faces and mesomorphic bodies, signals of attractiveness, disregarding stoicism. In conclusion, our data provide support for health selection theory. Additionally, preventive health measures directed at men should recognize their reluctance to recognize minor health problems and focus on techniques that enhance men's perception of their health symptoms.

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Opposite poles: A comparison between two Spanish regions in health-related quality of life, with implications for health policy

Cited by 12 publications

References 25 publications

Do place of residence and ethnicity affect health services utilization? evidence from greece

Do place of residence and ethnicity affect health services utilization? evidence from greece

Health related quality of life of Canary Island citizens

Female Choice and Male Stoicism

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