Journal Article

Rural–urban difference in the use of annual physical examination among seniors in Shandong, China: a cross-sectional study

Qian, Yangyang, Chu, Jie, Zhou, Chengchao, Zhang, Li, Ge, Dandan, Sun, Long

2017

Overview

Background Regular physical examination contributes to early detection and timely treatment, which is helpful in promoting healthy behaviors and preventing diseases. The objective of this study is to compare the annual physical examination (APE) use between rural and urban elderly in China. Methods A total of 3,922 participants (60+) were randomly selected from three urban districts and three rural counties in Shandong Province, China, and were interviewed using a standardized questionnaire. We performed unadjusted and adjusted logistic regression models to examine the difference in the utilization of APE between rural and urban elderly. Two adjusted logistic regression models were employed to identify the factors associated with APE use in rural and urban seniors respectively. Results The utilization rates of APE in rural and urban elderly are 37.4% and 76.2% respectively. Factors including education level, exercise, watching TV, and number of non-communicable chronic conditions, are associated with APE use both in rural and urban elderly. Hospitalization, self-reported economic status, and health insurance are found to be significant ( p  < 0.05) predictors for APE use in rural elderly. Elderly covered by Urban Resident Basic Medical Insurance (URBMI) ( p  < 0.05, OR = 1.874) are more likely to use APE in urban areas. Conclusions There is a big difference in APE utilization between rural and urban elderly. Interventions targeting identified at-risk subgroups, especially for those rural elderly, are essential to reduce such a gap. To improve health literacy might be helpful to increase the utilization rate of APE among the elderly.

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,Springer Nature B.V,BMC
• Subject: Activities of daily living / Aged / Aged, 80 and over / Aging / Analysis / Annual physical examination / China / Chronic conditions / Chronic illnesses / Comparative analysis / Counties / Cross-Sectional Studies / Demographics / Diseases / Economic status / Economics / Education / Educational attainment / Elderly / Equality and Human Rights / Expenditures / Female / GDP / Gender / Geriatrics / Gross Domestic Product / Health aspects / Health care industry / Health care policy / Health education / Health insurance / Health literacy / Health Policy / Health promotion / Health Promotion and Disease Prevention / Health service use / Health services / Health Services Research / Health status / Healthy habits / Hospitalization / Humans / Insurance / Literacy / Male / Marital status / Mathematical models / Medical care utilization / Medical examination / Medicine / Medicine & Public Health / Middle Aged / Older people / Physical Examination - utilization / Physical examinations / Physical training / Physiological aspects / Population / Prevention / Preventive medicine / Public Health / Public service advertising / Regression / Regression analysis / Risk reduction / Rural areas / Rural communities / Rural Population - statistics & numerical data / Rural urban differences / Rural–urban difference / Social Justice / Social Policy / Socioeconomic Factors / Studies / Subgroups / Television viewing / Tests / Urban areas / Urban population / Urban Population - statistics & numerical data