Test of a Model of Care Seeking in Military Women.

摘要

Many people, including military women, do not seek professional care in an appropriate and timely manner. One health problem for which military women might not seek appropriate professional care in a timely manner is vaginitis, a significant health problem because of its prevalence and potential for severe consequences. To facilitate appropriate and timely care seeking and to reduce poor health outcomes, care-seeking behaviors by military women must be examined. How a person decides to seek care is defined by these behaviors, beginning with cognitive appraisal of a health problem, and ending with its management. The primary aim of this study was to test, based on Lazarus and Folkmans theory of stress and coping, a model of care seeking in military women with vaginitis. Explication of the decisionmaking process of care seeking was ascertained by understanding how the health outcomes of military women with vaginitis depend on the processes of cognitive appraisal and coping, which, in turn, are influenced by antecedent environmental factors (signs and symptoms and material resources).