Research Information System
Anatolian Journal of Family Medicine, vol.5, no.1, pp.32-37, 2022 (Scopus)
Objectives: The aim of the study was to evaluate and determine the associated factors of appropriate healthcare use of elderly patients presenting to the general surgery outpatient clinic of a tertiary hospital. Methods: This hospital-focused cross-sectional study was conducted on patients aged 65 years and over who applied to tertiary care services between March 2021 and September 2021. The data were collected with a questionnaire using a face-to-face interview technique. The data collection form consisted of two sections, which assess sociodemographic features and the medical status of the patients. Results: A total of 340 patients were included in the study. The frequency of using tertiary healthcare services appropriately was 41 (12.1%). When the use of tertiary healthcare services was evaluated with logistic regression models, living area (OR=2.994 [1.375–6.521], p=0.006), duration of education (OR=3.032 [1.424–6.454], p=0.004), transport to healthcare center (OR=3.157 [1.193–8.353], p=0.021) and to know the family physician (OR=0.425 [0.203–0.892], p=0.024) were found to be significant. Conclusion: The effective use of the referral chain in the healthcare system will enable more effective use of tertiary healthcare institutions.