The main purpose of this study was to investigate the influence factors about physical and mental health status on medical services utilization among the elderly people in Taiwan. The interview result of 2,725 people, age over 65, from the 2005 National Health Interview Survey, were obtained from the National Health Research Institute and analyzed.The Andersen's health behavior model was used to explore the relation between the physical and mental health status of study population and medical utilization.
The results of this study show that the service utilization of the emergency,in-patient and Western medicine out-patient are statistically significant related to the level of self-rated health of study samples.
Numbers of chronic diseases of study population has significant influence on all kinds of medical service utilization. The score of IADLs of sample has significant affect on the emergency and inpatient service utilization. The CES-D scale has notable affect on the emergency and in-patient service utilization. The service utilization of the dentists, Western medicine and traditional Chinese medicine out-patient are statistically significant related to the MMSE score of the study population.
A longitudinal study design to explore the relevant factors on the tendency of depression with the emergency and inpatient medical service utilization is suggested for the future study.
