RESUMO
Objective To understand the current situation and explore the influencing factors of delay in seeking medical treatment for common symptoms of residents in the rural areas of Sichuan province. Methods In July 2019,multi-stage random sampling was carried out in Zigong city,Sichuan province,and the data were collected by face-to-face questionnaire interview.The residents who had lived at hometown for more than half a year in the past year and had seen a doctor in the most recent month were surveyed.Logistic regression was adopted to predict the influencing factors of delay in seeking medical treatment. Results A total of 342 subjects were enrolled,and the incidence of delay in seeking medical treatment was 13.45%(46/342).Compared with the young and middle-aged(<65 years)people,the elderly(≥65 years)people were more likely to have delay in seeking medical treatment (OR=2.187,95%CI=1.074-4.457,P=0.031).The rural residents who gave higher score of the overall quality of township health centers were less likely to have delay in seeking medical treatment (OR=0.854,95%CI=0.735-0.992,P=0.039). Conclusions The occurrence of delay in seeking medical treatment for common symptoms of rural residents in Sichuan province is low.Age and the overall quality evaluation of township health centers affect the occurrence of delay in medical treatment among the rural residents in Sichuan province.Efforts should be made to improve the awareness of disease prevention among the elderly in rural areas.The investment in health resources in township health centers should be increased to strengthen the introduction and training of talents.These measures can improve the health services in township health centers,guide residents to make timely use of health resources,and reduce the occurrence of delay in seeking medical treatment.