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The Association of Post-Materialism with Health Care Use: Findings of a General Population Survey in Germany
[journal article]
Abstract (1) The aim of this study was to identify the association between post-materialism and health care use (in terms of the frequency of doctor visits and the reason for doctor visits). (2) Data were taken from the German General Social Survey (a representative sample of individuals aged 18 years and ov... view more
(1) The aim of this study was to identify the association between post-materialism and health care use (in terms of the frequency of doctor visits and the reason for doctor visits). (2) Data were taken from the German General Social Survey (a representative sample of individuals aged 18 years and over, n = 3338). The Inglehart’s post-materialist index was used to quantify post-materialism. The doctor visits (self-reported) in the past three months served as an outcome measure. The reasons for seeing a doctor served as an additional outcome measure (acute illness; chronic illness; feeling unwell; requesting advice; visit to the doctor’s office without consulting the doctor (e.g., need to get a prescription); preventive medical check-up/vaccination). (3) After adjusting for several covariates, negative binomial regressions revealed that compared with materialism, post-materialism was associated with decreased doctor visits (total sample; women). Moreover, the likelihood of visiting the doctor for reasons of chronic illnesses was lower in post-materialistic women, whereas the likelihood of visiting the doctor for reasons of preventive medical check-up/vaccination was higher in post-materialistic women. (4) Study findings identify an unexplored link between post-materialism and doctor visits in women. One may conclude that in the long-term, the increased likelihood of preventive medical check-ups in post-materialistic women will be beneficial in decreasing the need for doctor visits for reasons of chronic illnesses. However, future research is required to elucidate the underlying mechanisms.... view less
Keywords
cultural factors; materialism; post-materialism; vaccination; health care delivery system; value; health care; prophylaxis; behavior model; physician-patient relationship; health promotion; recourse
Classification
Medical Sociology
Health Policy
Free Keywords
ZA5240 v2.1.0: Allgemeine Bevölkerungsumfrage der Sozialwissenschaften ALLBUS 2014; Andersen’s behavioral model; physician visits; post-materialism; values; cultural values; health service use; screening; check-up
Document language
English
Publication Year
2020
Page/Pages
p. 1-11
Journal
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17 (2020) 26
Issue topic
Advances in Population-Based Healthcare Research: From Measures to Evidence
ISSN
1660-4601
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed