Body awareness and medical care utilization among older adults in an HMO

This study investigated the association between the disposition of body awareness and medical care utilization among older adult members of a health maintenance organization (HMO). Results indicated that higher levels of body awareness are associated significantly with longitudinal increases in the volume of patient-initiated illness visits to the HMO, and with a greater likelihood of patient-initiated contact with the hospital emergency room, controlling for prior utilization, self-reported health status, and other factors. In contrast, body awareness was not associated significantly with longitudinal changes in physician-initiated follow-up visits, internal referrals, external referrals, or hospital inpatient days. Other findings indicated that higher levels of patient-initiated utilization were associated with greater physician-initiated utilization, controlling for prior utilization. These results illustrate how patient-initiated utilization may influence subsequent physician-initiated utilization.