Socioeconomic factors affecting patients’ utilization of primary care services at a Tertiary Teaching Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND: Primary care services utilization is dependent on socioeconomic factors. It is proven that variation in socioeconomic factors result in discrepancies in the use of such services. Admittedly, research is limited on the socioeconomic factors affecting the utilization of primary care services in Saudi Arabia. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this research was to study the effect of the main socioeconomic factors affecting patients' utilization of primary care services at a tertiary teaching hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted from January to February 2014 in a primary care clinic of a tertiary teaching hospital in Riyadh city; subjects selected using a random consecutive sampling technique. A self-administered questionnaire in Arabic was given to the participants to collect the data which comprised sociodemographic data, utilization measures, and health needs. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 21. RESULTS: A total of 358 subjects participated in the study. The main factors that best determine the utilization of primary health care clinic in a tertiary teaching hospital were the possession of a health insurance (P = 0.046, odds ratio [OR] = 8.333), and bad self-health-perception (P < 0.014, OR: 2.088). Chronic illness was also associated with higher utilization (OR = 2.003). CONCLUSION: Our results reveal that chronic health problems, self-health-perception, and health insurance are the most significant socioeconomic factors affecting the utilization of primary care services.