© 1987 by Oxford University Press
research-article |
Family Size, Illness and Use of Medical Services Among Preschool Colombian Children
The University of Texas School of Public Health PO Box 20186, Houston, Texas 77025, USA
There is a paucity of information about the role of family size and other predisposing and enabling factors in the decision to use medical services among Latin American families. This report presents further findings from a Colombian study in which such characteristics of pre-school children are related to use.
A case-comparison study was designed in which cases were those mothers of children 04 years old who did not use medical services for their pre-school child within the last year. The comparison group was user mothers. There is no statistically significant independent association between illness and use of medical services when both family size and child's age are controlled in analysis.
Findings have implications for the style of the delivery system and suggest house-to-house visits by health workers is the most useful way to overcome the non-user mother's tendency not to enter the formal medical care stream.