Factors associated with the status of usual source of care during the COVID-19 pandemic: a nationwide survey in Japan

BMC Primary Care

Research

Masato Matsushima¹  Takuya Aoki² 

[1] Division of Clinical Epidemiology, Research Center for Medical Sciences, The Jikei University School of Medicine, 3-28-5, Nishishimbashi, Minato-ku, 105-8461, Tokyo, Japan;Division of Clinical Epidemiology, Research Center for Medical Sciences, The Jikei University School of Medicine, 3-28-5, Nishishimbashi, Minato-ku, 105-8461, Tokyo, Japan;Section of Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Community Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 54 Kawahara-cho, Syogoin, Sakyo-ku, 606-8507, Kyoto, Japan;

关键词: covid-19;    Delivery of health care;    Health literacy;    Japan;    Primary health care;    Social isolation;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12875-023-02148-9

 received in 2023-03-20, accepted in 2023-09-02,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundTo ensure that high-quality primary care is available to every individual, increasing the proportion of residents with a usual source of care (USC) is a challenge for each country. However, the status of USC after the spread of COVID-19 and the factors associated with it remain unclear internationally. Therefore, we aimed to explore the associations of sociodemographic and clinical factors with the presence and type of USC (kakaritsukei in Japanese) during the pandemic in Japan.MethodsWe conducted a nationwide cross-sectional survey of a representative sample of the general Japanese adult population in May 2021. The main outcome measures were the presence and type of USC. We assessed sociodemographic and clinical factors, including age, gender, marital status, years of education, employment status, annual household income, social isolation, health literacy, number of chronic conditions, and health-related quality of life.ResultsOf the 1,757 participants, 1,011 (57.5%) had a USC. There were 769 (76.1%) participants who had a USC in a clinic and 227 (22.5%) in a hospital. As a result of multivariable modified Poisson regression analysis, male gender, no chronic condition, lower health literacy, and social isolation were significantly associated with not having a USC. Among participants with a USC, male gender, the presence of one or more chronic conditions, and lower health-related quality of life were associated with having a hospital-based USC.ConclusionsWe identified factors associated with the status of USC during the COVID-19 pandemic, including health literacy and social isolation. These findings provide primary care providers and policymakers with insight into the potential barriers to having a USC in the aftermath of the pandemic.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature 2023

【 图 表 】

Fig. 3