TY - JOUR
T1 - Barriers to health care access among the elderly and who perceives them
AU - Fitzpatrick, Annette L.
AU - Powe, Neil R.
AU - Cooper, Lawton S.
AU - Ives, Diane G.
AU - Robbins, John A
AU - Enright, Erika
PY - 2004/10
Y1 - 2004/10
N2 - Objectives. We evaluated self-perceived access to health care in a cohort of Medicare beneficiaries. Methods. We identified patterns of use and barriers to health care from self-administered questionnaires collected during the 1993-1994 annual examination of the Cardiovascular Health Study. Results. The questionnaires were completed by 4889 (91.1%) participants, with a mean age of 76.0 years. The most common barriers to seeing a physician were the doctor's lack of responsiveness to patient concerns, medical bills, transportation, and street safety. Low income, no supplemental insurance, older age, and female gender were independently related to perceptions of barriers. Race was not significant after adjustment for other factors. Conclusions. Psychological and physical barriers affect access to care among the elderly; these may be influenced by poverty more than by race.
AB - Objectives. We evaluated self-perceived access to health care in a cohort of Medicare beneficiaries. Methods. We identified patterns of use and barriers to health care from self-administered questionnaires collected during the 1993-1994 annual examination of the Cardiovascular Health Study. Results. The questionnaires were completed by 4889 (91.1%) participants, with a mean age of 76.0 years. The most common barriers to seeing a physician were the doctor's lack of responsiveness to patient concerns, medical bills, transportation, and street safety. Low income, no supplemental insurance, older age, and female gender were independently related to perceptions of barriers. Race was not significant after adjustment for other factors. Conclusions. Psychological and physical barriers affect access to care among the elderly; these may be influenced by poverty more than by race.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=4944254299&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=4944254299&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Article
C2 - 15451751
AN - SCOPUS:4944254299
VL - 94
SP - 1788
EP - 1794
JO - American Journal of Public Health
JF - American Journal of Public Health
SN - 0090-0036
IS - 10
ER -