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An analysis of physician utilization by elderly persons: systematic differences between self-report and archival
G L Glandon1, M A Counte, D Tancredi
1Department of Health Systems Management, Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, Chicago.
Journal of Gerontology
|September 1, 1992
Summary
Elderly individuals often underreport physician visits, with a significant discrepancy between self-reports and actual service use. This reporting error varies by health status and utilization levels, impacting research accuracy.
Area of Science:
- Gerontology
- Health Services Research
- Biostatistics
Background:
- Accurate measurement of healthcare utilization is crucial for understanding health trends in the elderly population.
- Discrepancies between self-reported and archival data can introduce bias into research findings.
- Understanding factors influencing reporting accuracy is essential for reliable health services research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the discrepancy between archival and self-report measures of physician utilization among elderly persons.
- To examine how health status and sociodemographic variables are associated with this reporting discrepancy.
Main Methods:
- Comparison of archival records with self-reported data on physician visits.
- Multivariate analysis to identify factors associated with the discrepancy.
- Assessment of reporting error in relation to health status (disease history) and utilization levels.
Main Results:
- Elderly individuals underreported physician utilization by a net of 0.35 visits per person.
- The total discrepancy averaged nearly two visits, representing 65% of self-reported visits.
- Underreporting was smaller for those with lower health status and larger for those with higher utilization; those in poor health tended to overreport.
Conclusions:
- Self-reported physician utilization data among the elderly contain significant net error and systematic bias.
- Reporting error is influenced by health status and the volume of services used.
- Researchers must consider these systematic errors when interpreting self-reported physician utilization data in older adults.