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Use of primary health care services according to the different degrees of obesity in the Girona Health Region, Spain

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  • Marc Saez
  • Carme Saurina
  • Germà Coenders
  • Sònia González‐Raya

Abstract

Our main hypothesis in this paper was that, once controlled for age and gender, the use of primary health care services of people in each of the groups defined by their degree of obesity (i.e. normal weight, overweight and obese) did not correspond to the need for care implied by the level of risk of the group he/she belonged to. This fact could reflect some inequity in the utilisation of such services. Using a survey of the general population from the Girona Health Region, Spain, carried out during the fourth quarter of 2002, we have found that: first, the probability of primary health care use decreased with income for GPs (until 1200€) and increased for specialists (from 1500€). Second, we could conclude by confirming our hypothesis, i.e. there was more probability of obese individuals using general practice care, public in particular, and less probability of them using specialists, private in particular, than the rest of individuals. Third, we conclude that the use of multilevel (also hierarchical or mixed) models could explain most of our original findings in this paper. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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  • Marc Saez & Carme Saurina & Germà Coenders & Sònia González‐Raya, 2006. "Use of primary health care services according to the different degrees of obesity in the Girona Health Region, Spain," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(2), pages 173-193, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:15:y:2006:i:2:p:173-193
    DOI: 10.1002/hec.1059
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    1. Anura Amarasinghe & Gerard D'Souza & Cheryl Brown & Tatiana Borisova, 2006. "A Spatial Analysis of Obesity in West Virginia," Working Papers Working Paper 2006-13, Regional Research Institute, West Virginia University.
    2. Kinge, Jonas Minet & Morris, Stephen, 2014. "Association between obesity and prescribed medication use in England," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 15(C), pages 47-55.
    3. Carme Saurina & Laura Vall-llosera & Marc Saez, 2012. "Factors determining access to and use of primary health care services in the Girona Health Region (Spain)," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 13(4), pages 419-427, August.
    4. Ignacio Abásolo & Jaime Pinilla & Miguel Negrín, 2008. "Equity in the utilization of public health care services by regions in Spain: a multinivel analysis," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 187(4), pages 87-106, December.
    5. Soy-Massoni, Emma & Langemeyer, Johannes & Varga, Diego & Sáez, Marc & Pintó, Josep, 2016. "The importance of ecosystem services in coastal agricultural landscapes: Case study from the Costa Brava, Catalonia," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 17(C), pages 43-52.
    6. Laia Maynou & Gabriel Coll-de-Tuero & Marc Saez, 2019. "The effects of copayment in primary health care: evidence from a natural experiment," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 20(8), pages 1237-1248, November.
    7. Evelina Pappa & Nick Kontodimopoulos & Angelos A. Papadopoulos & Yannis Tountas & Dimitris Niakas, 2011. "Physician Consultations According to Different BMI Levels of the Greek General Population," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-12, November.

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