Inequalities of general physicians and specialists visits’ utilization and its determinants in Iran: a population based study

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study, inequalities between general physicians’ and specialists’ visits in Shiraz. Also, the factors effecting the utilization of visits were determined.

Design/methodology/approach

Concentration index and curves, ranked by income and quality of life were used to estimate the amount of inequality in the utilization of services. Health utilization data which had been gathered already were used for this purpose. Poisson regression was used to construct the models.

Findings

Results of the study showed that, inequalities in specialists’ visits were higher than GPs’. Complementary insurances users and females used more specialist services. People with higher quality of life utilized fewer GPs’ and specialists’ services.

Originality/value

New evidences about inequality in health services utilization and its components in Iran was surveyed.

Citation

Homaie Rad, E., Ghaisi, A., Arefnezhad, M. and Bayati, M. (2015), "Inequalities of general physicians and specialists visits’ utilization and its determinants in Iran: a population based study", International Journal of Human Rights in Healthcare, Vol. 8 No. 3, pp. 125-131. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHRH-12-2014-0032