The Utilization of Outpatient Health Services among the Elderlies in Yazd in 2018

Aging population is one of the most important demographic phenomena associated with increasing costs and demand for health services. Hence, planning and utilizing health services is a very important concern for the elderly as well as the politicians. The purpose of this study was to determine the status of utilization of outpatient health services among the elderlies of Yazd in 2018. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 300 elderly people in Yazd. The participants were selected using stratified sampling method. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire with 37 questions, which included three sections of demographic information, household characteristics, and health care utilization status. To analyze the data, SPSS 20, chi-square test tests, and logistic regression at a significant level of 0.05 were applied. The frequently visited places by patients to receive the outpatient services were specialist physicians' offices (34.0 %) and the most common cause to receive the outpatient services was cardiovascular diseases (34.0 %). Women (59.9 %) more than men and housewives (61.4 %) more than other people benefited from outpatient services. The average cost paid for the outpatient services was 500,000 Rials and 53.2 % of the elderly spent less than this amount. Factors affecting utilization of outpatient services included marriage, complementary insurance, education, specific illness, and household size. Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of utilizing the outpatient services, which leads to an increase in the demand for outpatient health services. The utilization of these services is also affected by factors such as marital status, complementary insurance, education, specific illness, and household size. Therefore, proper planning is essential in this regard.