[Determinants in decisions for the utilization of an ambulatory medical service]

The purpose of this research is to know more about the factors determining the decision to see a doctor. Especially the influence of characteristics of the delivery system (e.g. differences between urban and rural regions) and characteristics of users (e.g. social class) are investigated. In this article the conceptual frame of the study is described. The model is based on assumptions of the action-decision-theory. It structures the process of decision and action into four phases: the first two, perception and interpretation, are summarized as "process of attention"; the subsequent ones, coping and evaluation, as "process of acting". The model describes the social system (the total of demographic, socio-structural and socio-economic variables) and the memory system (contained within the individual life history) as mediating factors influencing the decision to act.