The relationships between health beliefs and utilization of free health examinations in older people living in a community setting in Taiwan

OBJECTIVE: To examine the influence of demographics and the health beliefs of older people on uptake of a free annual health examination administered by the Twu-Tyan Bureau of Sanitation (TTBS), Pingtung, Taiwan. BACKGROUND: The free health examination is a preventive intervention with potential to detect illness. This programme for older people aged 65 years and over, has been available free in some areas since 1980. METHOD: A stratified random systematic sample of 200 men and women over 65 years was selected and consisted of 100 individuals who had undertaken the free health examination and 100 who had not. A 17-item Health Belief Scale (HBS) was used to glean information on their health beliefs and uptake of a free health examination. FINDINGS: It was found that those with higher education and higher economic status had a greater uptake. Family support was also found to influence take-up. A statistically significant difference was found between the health beliefs of users and nonusers. Users perceived a higher level of seriousness and susceptibility to ill health than nonusers. CONCLUSIONS: A number of practical pointers are given that might help clinicians increase uptake rates in such health promotion programmes. These encompass understanding the influence of key demographical and social factors, perceived susceptibility, severity and benefits of the intervention, barriers to attendance and self-efficacy.