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When do people visit a doctor?

Shun-ichiro Bessho¹, Yasushi Ohkusa

¹Graduate School of Economics, The University of Tokyo.

Health Care Management Science

|April 15, 2006

Summary

Understanding patient decisions to seek medical care is crucial. This study reveals that while severe symptoms prompt doctor visits, available alternatives like self-care or sick leave delay seeking professional medical help, challenging traditional economic models.

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Area of Science:

Health economics
Medical decision-making
Survival analysis

Background:

Patients often delay seeking medical care due to factors like mild symptoms or alternative self-treatment options.
Understanding the determinants of healthcare-seeking behavior is vital for public health policy and resource allocation.
Previous research has focused on factors influencing healthcare utilization, but the dynamic timing of visits requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

To analyze the time delay between symptom onset and doctor visit using survival analysis.
To identify factors influencing patients' decisions to seek medical care.
To examine the role of ex-post moral hazard in healthcare-seeking behavior, excluding physician-induced demand.

Main Methods:

Survival analysis was employed to model the time-to-event data.
Participants maintained logs of illness episodes, symptoms, sick leave, and medical treatments.
Statistical analysis assessed the impact of symptom severity, fever, copayment rates, access costs, and alternative treatments on visit timing.

Main Results:

Neither copayment rates nor access costs significantly affected the decision to visit a doctor.
The availability of alternatives, such as over-the-counter (OTC) medicine or sick leave, was associated with delayed doctor visits.
More severe symptoms and the presence of fever significantly hastened the time to seeking medical attention.

Conclusions:

The study challenges the traditional view of ex-post moral hazard in healthcare-seeking behavior.
Patient-driven factors, particularly symptom severity and the availability of alternatives, are key determinants of visit timing.
Healthcare policy should consider the influence of alternative treatments and symptom perception on timely access to medical care.

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