Event Title
Poster Introductions I--Arduous Access: Does SES Affect Access to Primary Health Care in Quebec?
Start Date
15-10-2009 12:00 PM
End Date
15-10-2009 12:15 PM
Description
A review of the extant literature indicates that there is an important dearth of research concerning access to primary care in Quebec specifically, given the province’s particularly troublesome number of people without family doctors. Furthermore, while many studies concentrate on the effect of socioeconomic on utilisation rates of services, few studies have considered its impact on the likelihood of having a regular source of care. As such, in order to address some of these gaps in the extant literature, this paper will ask whether there is a positive relationship between SES and the likelihood of having a family physician amongst Quebecers. Logistic regression was employed using odds ratios in order to determine the different probabilities of having a regular medical doctor according to level of income and education. Other inequity measures were also included in the analyses, including health region, area of residence, language, visible minority status, and marital status. Finally, the effects of perceived and evaluated health need, age and sex were also controlled for. Results indicate that income positively affects one’s chances of having a regular physician in Quebec, especially among low-income individuals. Education, on the other hand, was not found to be significant. Health status, age and being female were found to increase the likelihood of having a physician, (representing inequalities in access), whereas living in Montreal (and urban regions in general) as well as being unmarried were all found to be negatively associated with having a regular doctor. In sum, disparities in access continue to exist in this province, despite universal healthcare coverage.
Tania Jenkins is a Master’s student in Sociology at McGill University and recipient of a SSHRC Master’s Canadian Graduate Scholarship. She is currently a research assistant at the International Research Infrastructure on Social Inequalities in Health at McGill University and is notably working on several projects that touch upon aging, maternal health care and private health insurance. Beyond this, her research interests include health care systems across the world and more particularly access to primary health care in Quebec, which is the subject of her Master’s thesis. She hopes to continue on to a PhD in the field of medical sociology in autumn 2010.
Included in
Poster Introductions I--Arduous Access: Does SES Affect Access to Primary Health Care in Quebec?
A review of the extant literature indicates that there is an important dearth of research concerning access to primary care in Quebec specifically, given the province’s particularly troublesome number of people without family doctors. Furthermore, while many studies concentrate on the effect of socioeconomic on utilisation rates of services, few studies have considered its impact on the likelihood of having a regular source of care. As such, in order to address some of these gaps in the extant literature, this paper will ask whether there is a positive relationship between SES and the likelihood of having a family physician amongst Quebecers. Logistic regression was employed using odds ratios in order to determine the different probabilities of having a regular medical doctor according to level of income and education. Other inequity measures were also included in the analyses, including health region, area of residence, language, visible minority status, and marital status. Finally, the effects of perceived and evaluated health need, age and sex were also controlled for. Results indicate that income positively affects one’s chances of having a regular physician in Quebec, especially among low-income individuals. Education, on the other hand, was not found to be significant. Health status, age and being female were found to increase the likelihood of having a physician, (representing inequalities in access), whereas living in Montreal (and urban regions in general) as well as being unmarried were all found to be negatively associated with having a regular doctor. In sum, disparities in access continue to exist in this province, despite universal healthcare coverage.
Tania Jenkins is a Master’s student in Sociology at McGill University and recipient of a SSHRC Master’s Canadian Graduate Scholarship. She is currently a research assistant at the International Research Infrastructure on Social Inequalities in Health at McGill University and is notably working on several projects that touch upon aging, maternal health care and private health insurance. Beyond this, her research interests include health care systems across the world and more particularly access to primary health care in Quebec, which is the subject of her Master’s thesis. She hopes to continue on to a PhD in the field of medical sociology in autumn 2010.