The Haemophilia Utilization Group Study (HUGS) was created 10 years ago to examine the annual utilization and cost of haemophilia-related healthcare services. Retrospective chart reviews for 336 patients with haemophilia A receiving treatment in one of five comprehensive haemophilia treatment centres (HTCs) during 1995 were completed through interview of the provider. This method provided adequ...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES A commonly cited explanation of how racial discrimination impacts health is the biopsychosocial model. However, the biopsychosocial model does not allow for the effects of perceived provider discrimination on health behavior and utilization. In fact, researchers have directed relatively little attention toward the direct and indirect effects of perceived provider discr...

Headache is among the most common disabling pain complaints. While many patients are managed in primary care or referral neurology practices, some patients have refractive situations that necessitate referral to a tertiary headache center. Increasing frequency of headache is strongly associated with increasing disability and workplace absenteeism as well as increased healthcare utilization. Pre...

BACKGROUND Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a serious chronic condition with a global impact. Symptoms of COPD include progressive dyspnea, breathlessness, cough, and sputum production, which have a considerable impact on the lives of patients. In addition to the human cost of living with COPD and the resulting death, COPD entails a huge economic burden on the Chinese population,...

BACKGROUND Patterns of healthcare utilization and costs in patients beginning pharmacotherapy for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) have not been well characterized. METHODS Using a large US health insurance database, we identified all patients with evidence of GAD (ICD-9-CM diagnosis code 300.02) who initiated pharmacotherapy with medications commonly used to treat GAD (eg, selective seroto...

BACKGROUND Health services utilization by Veterans following release may be different than the general population as the result of occupational conditions, requirements and injuries. This study provides the first longitudinal overview of Canadian Veteran healthcare utilization in the Ontario public health system. METHODS This is a retrospective cohort study designed to use Ontario's provincia...

BACKGROUND Most previous studies on healthcare service utilization in low-income countries have not used a multilevel study design to address the importance of community-level women's autonomy. We assessed whether women's autonomy, measured at both individual and community levels, is associated with maternal healthcare service utilization in Ethiopia. METHODS We analyzed data from the 2005 an...

BACKGROUND Previous studies investigating factors associated with healthcare utilization by older Ghanaians lack distinction between public and private health services. The present study examined factors associated with public and private healthcare service use, and the resulting perceived health system responsiveness. OBJECTIVES To identify factors associated with public and private healthca...

BACKGROUND The incidence of tuberculosis (TB) in end-stage renal disease is significantly higher than that in the general population. Among those with kidney dysfunction, anti-TB treatment is associated with increased side effects, but the effect on healthcare utilization is unknown. Methods/Aim: To assess patient-reported symptoms, adverse effects and describe changes in healthcare utilization...

background out of eight commonly agreed millennium development goals (mdg), six are related to the attainment of universal health coverage (uhc) throughout the globe. this universalization of health status suggests policies to narrow the gap in access and benefit sharing between different socially and economically underprivileged classes with that of the better placed ones and a consequent expa...