Rural access to a regular source of medical care

Abstract

Household survey data from an adult rural west Texas population were used to investigate the role of demographic, economic, attitudinal, and need-related factors in (a) explaining physician contact and volume of physician visits and (b) differentiating between those individuals who have and those who do not have a regular source of medical care. Fifty-two percent of the variance in visit volume was explained; compared with the findings reported in similar studies, alignment with a regular source of care was more closely associated with visit volume and physician contact. Although the variance explained in having a regular source was only about 18%, the findings suggest that factors determining alignment with a regular source may differ considerably from those determining other dimensions of utilization. Furthermore, patterns evident across several dimensions in rural populations may be quite different from those exhibited in other populations.