01697600

Component

China, like other middle and low-income countries, is rapidly ageing. Improving the access to primary care among the Chinese elderly is important in elderly health intervention. Despite a rich body of research in primary care access in public health, geography, and transportation studies, the existing literature linking transportation, primary care usage, and primary care visit satisfaction remains rare. This study aims to fill up these research gaps using a nationwide elderly survey conducted by World Health Organization (WHO) to examine the relationship between transportation, primary care visit frequency, and satisfaction among the Chinese elderly using a nationwide dataset. By using a combined model of a negative binominal model and an ordered logistic model to revise the traditional Anderson Behavior Model, this study found that travel time is negatively associated with primary care frequency, and different travel modes show variations in primary care visit frequency and satisfaction. Car passengers and drivers take fewer trips and report lower levels of satisfaction with their primary care. Transport cost has no significant role in primary care usage and satisfaction. Controlling for transportation-related factors, elderly with higher income have both higher primary care visit frequency and satisfaction. Healthier elderly people are more likely to have fewer primary care visits and higher visit satisfaction. This study shows that transportation influences access to primary care in China, however, the role of it could only be achieved by combining with other health care policies, such as better health care coverage and lower medicine expenditures.

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ADB10 Standing Committee on Traveler Behavior and Values.

19-02085

English

0000-0002-0698-3509

6p

2019

Transportation Research Board 98th Annual Meeting

Digital/other

Figures; References

Aged; Data analysis; Health care; Travel

China

Data and Information Technology; Society; Transportation (General)

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2019 Paper #19-02085

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Dec 7 2018 9:32AM