Geographic Accessibility of Health Care in Rural Areas;Final rept. 30 Sep 98-29 Feb 04

摘要

The purpose of the report is to measure the effects of geographic factors on the use of health care practitioners by rural residents and also to measure the extent to which sociodemographic, cultural and health status characteristics reduce these effects. One of the major problems rural dwellers face is access to care, geographic access in particular. The study was conducted in 12 counties in the four most rural Beale Code categories in the western region of North Carolina. The principal dataset is based on 1,059 personal survey interviews conducted by Research Triangle Institute in the 12 study counties. The survey employed a three-stage sampling design based on Census blocks, households, and individuals. Sampling weights were developed for use in data analyses which were comprised of statistical tests of bivariate and multivariate associations between population characteristics and health care utilization.