Factors Affecting People's Preferences of Visiting a Kakaritsukei (Home-doctor) / General Medicine

ABSTRACT

<b>Objectives</b> To determine factors related to peoples' preference for visiting home-doctors when experiencing new health problems.<br><b>Method</b> A questionnaire survey was conducted of people receiving annual health checkups in municipalities in the vicinity of Jichi Medical University Hospital. We surveyed personal characteristics, test equipment, having of a home-doctor, and answers to an assumed scenario (asking about willingness to visit a home-doctor in case of getting certain health problems).<br>According to the responses to the scenario, we divided the subjects into two groups (a home-doctor group visiting a home-doctor; and a specialist group not visiting a home-doctor) and statistically compared the two groups.<br><b>Results</b> In the analytic sample of 1,829, the home-doctor group numbered 1,097 individuals (60%) and the specialist group numbered 732 individuals (40%). The home-doctor group statistically had more home-doctors than the specialist group (adjusted odds ratio, 95% confidence interval 2.47, 2.00-3.05).<br>More home-doctors in the home-doctor group had test equipment than home-doctors in the specialist group Gastrointestinal test equipment (gastroscopy, colonoscopy, or ultrasonography) (adjusted odds ratio, 95% confidence interval 1.39, 1.06-1.83).<br><b>Conclusion</b> We revealed two factors relating to the preference for visiting home-doctors First, those people had home-doctors, and, second, the home-doctors had test equipment.