Public or Private Hospitals: Survey of Household's Tendencies in Some Selected Areas of Mashhad

Tendency of an individual to choose between a public and a private hospital can be affected by several factors such as insurance coverage, income, age, gender, level of education, or health status. The aim of this study was to investigate the main reasons of the households’ tendencies to choose between these two types in some selected area of Mashhad. This was a cross-sectional study conducted in 2014 in two selected regions in Mashhad. The participants included 923 households selected through multistage sampling. Data were collected by a 3-part questionnaire the validity and reliability of which were assessed beforehand. Data were analyzed using Mann-Whitney U test, Chi Square and logistic regression model in SPSS. It was found that factors including existence of highly qualified medical and nursing staff, the respondent’s gender, access to social support networks, individual assessment of their health status, basic amenities, the respondent’s age, communication and the type of the last center (public or private) for inpatient experience significantly affected the participants’ tendencies to choose between public or private hospitals. The tendency of the most households to select a specific sector (public or private) can be the outcome of the quality of services delivery in the sector. Making changes in these outcomes typically requires long-term plans. Thus, preparation and implementation of these plans should be considered according to the extent of the public sector in health services delivery.