Pattern of Ambulatory Care Visits to Obstetrician-Gynecologists in Taiwan: A Nationwide Analysis

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

An-Min Lynn¹  Li-Jung Lai¹  Ming-Hwai Lin¹  Tzeng-Ji Chen¹  Shinn-Jang Hwang¹  Peng-Hui Wang² 

[1] Department of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, No. 201, Sec. 2, Shi-Pai Road, Taipei 112, Taiwan; E-Mails:;School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, No.155, Sec. 2, Linong Street, Taipei 112, Taiwan; E-Mail:

关键词: obstetrician-gynecologists;    national health insurance;    ambulatory visits;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijerph120606832

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Although obstetrician-gynecologists (OB-GYNs) are the main actors in the provision of health care to women, their practice patterns have rarely been analyzed. The current study investigated the nationwide ambulatory visits to OB-GYNs in Taiwan using the National Health Insurance Research Database. From the 1/500 sampling datasets indicating 619,760 ambulatory visits in 2012, it was found that 5.8% (n = 35,697) of the visits were made to OB-GYNs. Two-fifths of the services provided were performed by male OB-GYNs aged 50–59 years. Women of childbearing age accounted for more than half of the visits to OB-GYNs (57.2%), and elderly patients above 60 years accounted for only 7.7%. The most frequent diagnoses were menstrual disorders and other forms of abnormal bleeding from the female genital tract (13.1%). Anti-infective agents were prescribed in 15.1% of the visits to OB-GYNs. The study revealed the proportion of aging practicing OB-GYNs, and our detailed results could contribute to evidence-based discussions on health policymaking.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.