Health care services: Utilization and perception among elderly in an urban resettlement colony of Delhi

CONTEXT: Health care utilization informs us about the utility of services which are available. We have a paucity of studies related to health care utilization among elderly in India. AIMS: The aim of this study is to find out utilization of health care services by elderly (≥60 years), pattern, factors associated with, and perception of the elderly population regarding facilitators and barriers for the same. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A community based cross-sectional, observational study was conducted in a resettlement colony of East Delhi. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A pretested, semi-structured, and interviewer-administered questionnaire was used. Duration of data collection was November 2018 to January 2020. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: For quantitative variables, mean, median, proportion, Chi-square test, binary logistic regression using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), and for qualitative variables thematic analysis were done. RESULTS: The study included 288 study participants. Although utilization of health care services in last 15 days among elderly is 90%, it was also found that 69% of the elderly consulted a licensed medical practitioner. A private facility was visited by 58% of the study participants. Female gender (OR: 1.97; P = 0.02), religion as Hindu (OR, 2.09; P = 0.04), and marital status “single” (OR, 1.8; P = 0.04) were observed to be significant predictors of health care utilization. The participants expressed less waiting time, cashless facility for visits, availability of an accompanying person, behavior of staffs work as facilitators for utilization of services. CONCLUSIONS: Considering the unique characteristics of this age group, a shift from facility to community-based approach may be considered. Efforts may be made to create elderly friendly health facilities.