| Abstract: | Providing appropriate health services to the elderly is emerging as one of the major challenges of this decade. Using the theoretical framework developed by Andersen and Aday, this study attempts to improve our understanding of those factors which inhibit or facilitate elders' use of health services. The data come from a 1974 statewide random probability sample of 1,625 noninstitutionalized elders 65 years of age or older living in Massachusetts. Regression analysis is used to study the effects of predisposing, enabling, and need characteristics on the use of five health services: hospitals, physicians, dentists, home care, and ambulatory care. The model explains from 5% to 27% of the variance in health service utilization. Need characteristics, in general, account for most of the explained variance.Drs. Branch and Jette and Ms. Polansky are with the Department of Social Medicine and Health Policy, Division on Aging, Harvard Medical School, 643 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115; Dr. Jette is also with the Massachusetts General Hospital's Institute of Health Professions; Dr. Evashwick and Ms. Rowe are with the Department of Health Services and Long Term Care Gerontology Center, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington; and Dr. Diehr is with the Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington. Work for this project was supported in part by a grant from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health while the first author was with the Center for Survey Research, a facility of the University of Massachusetts and the Joint Center for Urban Studies of M.I.T. and Harvard University; in part by Grant 90-A-1350/2 from the Administration on Aging of H.E.W. to the Harvard School of Public Health; and in part by Grant 90-AT-2159 from the Administration on Aging of H.E.W. to the Harvard Medical School. |
