TY - JOUR
T1 - The 'price signal' for health care is loud and clear
T2 - A cross-sectional study of self-reported access to health care by disadvantaged Australians
AU - Paul, Christine
AU - Bonevski, Billie
AU - Twyman, Laura
AU - D'Este, Catherine
AU - Siahpush, Mohammad
AU - Guillaumier, Ashleigh
AU - Bryant, Jamie
AU - Fradgley, Elizabeth
AU - Palazzi, Kerrin
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding for the study was provided by an NHMRC Project grant (631055). Infrastructure funding was provided by Hunter Medical Research Institute and the Priority Research Centre for Health Behaviour. Christine Paul and Billie Bonevski were supported by NHMRC Career Development Fellowships. Jamie Bryant is supported by an Australian Research Council Post Doctoral Industry Fellowship. Infrastructure funding from Cancer Council NSW to Newcastle Cancer Control Collaboration under a Strategic Research Partnership grant is also acknowledged.
PY - 2016/4/1
Y1 - 2016/4/1
N2 - Objective: To describe self-reported inability to access health care and factors associated with lack of access among a socioeconomically disadvantaged group. Method: A cross-sectional survey with 906 adult clients of a large community welfare agency in New South Wales. Clients attending the service for emergency assistance completed a touchscreen survey. Results: Inability to access health care in the prior year was reported by more than one-third of the sample (38%), compared to the 5% found for the general population. Dentists (47%), specialists (43%) or GPs (29%) were the least accessible types of health care. The main reason for inability to access health care was cost, accounting for 60% of responses. Almost half (47%) the sample reported delayed or non-use of medicines due to cost. Increasing financial stress was associated with increased inability to access GP or specialist care, medicines and imaging. Higher anxiety scores were associated with inability to access health care, and with cost-related inability to access medicines and imaging. Conclusion: For disadvantaged groups, cost-related barriers to accessing care are prominent and are disproportionately high - particularly regarding dentistry, specialist and GP care. Implications: Improvements in health outcomes for disadvantaged groups are likely to require strategies to reduce cost-related barriers to health care.
AB - Objective: To describe self-reported inability to access health care and factors associated with lack of access among a socioeconomically disadvantaged group. Method: A cross-sectional survey with 906 adult clients of a large community welfare agency in New South Wales. Clients attending the service for emergency assistance completed a touchscreen survey. Results: Inability to access health care in the prior year was reported by more than one-third of the sample (38%), compared to the 5% found for the general population. Dentists (47%), specialists (43%) or GPs (29%) were the least accessible types of health care. The main reason for inability to access health care was cost, accounting for 60% of responses. Almost half (47%) the sample reported delayed or non-use of medicines due to cost. Increasing financial stress was associated with increased inability to access GP or specialist care, medicines and imaging. Higher anxiety scores were associated with inability to access health care, and with cost-related inability to access medicines and imaging. Conclusion: For disadvantaged groups, cost-related barriers to accessing care are prominent and are disproportionately high - particularly regarding dentistry, specialist and GP care. Implications: Improvements in health outcomes for disadvantaged groups are likely to require strategies to reduce cost-related barriers to health care.
KW - cost of illness
KW - health services accessibility
KW - outpatient care
KW - socioeconomically disadvantaged groups
KW - underserved populations
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U2 - 10.1111/1753-6405.12405
DO - 10.1111/1753-6405.12405
M3 - Article
C2 - 26121933
AN - SCOPUS:84962860025
VL - 40
SP - 132
EP - 137
JO - Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health
JF - Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health
SN - 1326-0200
IS - 2
ER -