BACKGROUND Knowledge of the factors that influence maternal serum screening (MSS) service utilization can be used to develop health policies to promote equitable access to MSS and further diagnostic tests. The purpose of this study was to find the factors associated with utilization of MSS as well as the current status of service utilization in mainland China. METHODS This was a hospital-base...

Parents of children with disabilities have been found to be more likely to experience stress and depressive symptoms than parents of typically developing children as a result of the increased challenges inherent in their parenting role. This study investigated the utilization of and satisfaction with adolescent health care services reported by mothers and their relation to maternal well-being. ...

BACKGROUND Maternal and child healthcare services are very important for the health outcomes of the mother and that of the child and in ensuring that both maternal and child deaths are prevented. Studying these services is necessary in developing countries where infrastructure (which is meant to deal with these health services) is minimal or lacking. The objective of the study is to examine the...

BACKGROUND The majority of previous studies investigating the health care utilization of people with dementia were conducted in Western societies. There is little information on the economic burden on the healthcare system attributable to dementia in Asian countries. This study thus investigated differences in utilization of healthcare services between subjects with and those without a diagnosi...

OBJECTIVE Although obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is not a life-threatening disease, very few studies have compared differences in healthcare service utilization between patients with and those without OSA in an Asian population according to different age groups. This study attempted to investigate differences in healthcare service utilization between patients with and those without OSA in diffe...

BACKGROUND Self-reported data are often used for estimates on healthcare utilization in cost-effectiveness studies. OBJECTIVE To analyze older adults' self-report of healthcare utilization compared to data obtained from the general practitioners' (GP) electronic medical record (EMR) and to study the differences in healthcare utilization between those who completed the study, those who did not...

BACKGROUND Utilization of maternal health services is associated with improved maternal and neonatal health outcomes. Considering global and national interests in the Millennium Development Goal and Nigeria's high level of maternal mortality, understanding the factors affecting maternal health use is crucial. Studies on the use of maternal care services have largely overlooked community and oth...

BACKGROUND Among the most studied evidence-based programs, the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (CDSMP) has been shown to help participants improve their health behaviors, health outcomes, and reduce healthcare utilization. However, there is a lack of information on how CDSMP, when nationally disseminated, impacts healthcare utilization and averts healthcare costs. The purposes of this s...

INTRODUCTION "Health for All" still eludes public health experts despite many approaches to prevent disease and promote health among urban poor. Several key illness factors lie beyond the conventional healthcare boundaries. OBJECTIVE To examine the effectiveness of family centered approach (FCA) in addressing health and related issues in an urban area of Mangalore, India. METHOD A longitudi...

BACKGROUND Mutuelles is a community-based health insurance program, established since 1999 by the Government of Rwanda as a key component of the national health strategy on providing universal health care. The objective of the study was to evaluate the impact of Mutuelles on achieving universal coverage of medical services and financial risk protection in its first eight years of implementation...