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Exploration of health status, healthcare utilization, and health service expectations among Taiwanese adolescents

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Abstract

There have been few reports about adolescent experiences with and expectations of health service utilization in an Asian societal setting. The aim of this study is to analyze the use of healthcare services in relation to health status and explore adolescents' preferences for youth-friendly service among Taiwanese high school students. A cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey was conducted on Taiwanese adolescents aged 12–18 years in 2010. We invited participants to rate their health status, report their previous healthcare service use, and rank their health service preferences. We used logistic regression analysis to investigate the association between self-rated health status and healthcare utilization and used nonparametric analysis to compare health service preferences among sociodemographic subgroups. A total of 4,907students (97.2 % response rate) returned valid questionnaires for analysis. Poor health status and chronic illness were most salient factors independently associated with frequent healthcare service use. Only 40 % of respondents reported having a regular doctor, and pediatrics (57.7 %) was the most commonly identified professional source of medical care. A great majority (86.2 %) of respondents made clinical visits with parents. For characteristics of youth-friendly clinician, the top-ranked items included competency and patience, while having helpful and friendly personnel was highlighted for clinical setting. Conclusion: Family participation is critical in healthcare for adolescents in Asian cultures. Health service use is significantly influenced by health status and chronic illness in the general health insurance system. Understanding these background influences on expectations for healthcare may help to create youth-friendly health services that are more culturally appropriate.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Ms. Meei-Ren Wang and Mr. Yi-Dong Chen for their tremendous help on data collection. This study was supported by the residency research award from the C.L. Chen Pediatric Research Scholarship Foundation.

Authors' contribution

Meng-Che Tsai conducted the research and wrote the manuscript.

Yen-Yin Chou designed the questionnaire and advised on sampling of participants.

Shio-Jean Lin supervised the entire procedure of research and approved the final manuscript as submitted.

Sheng-Hsiang Lin conducted the statistical analysis.

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, 138 Sheng-Li Road, Tainan, 704, Taiwan

    Meng-Che Tsai & Yen-Yin Chou

  2. Research Center of Clinical Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan

    Sheng-Hsiang Lin

  3. Institute of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan

    Sheng-Hsiang Lin

  4. Department of Pediatrics, Chi-Mei Hospital, 901 Jhonghua Road, Yongkang District, 710, Tainan, Taiwan

    Shio-Jean Lin

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  1. Meng-Che Tsai
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  2. Sheng-Hsiang Lin
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Correspondence to Shio-Jean Lin.

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Tsai, MC., Lin, SH., Chou, YY. et al. Exploration of health status, healthcare utilization, and health service expectations among Taiwanese adolescents. Eur J Pediatr 173, 187–196 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-013-2117-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-013-2117-1

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