Attitudinal and Situational Factors in the Use of Physician Services by Low-Income Persons

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Abstract
The impact of certain attitudinal and situational factors on the use of needed and discretionary physician services is examined. The analysis focuses on the low-income respondents (2551) in a 1971 national survey conducted by the National Opinion Research Center for the Center for Health Administration Studies, University of Chicago [USA] and utilizes the Goodman system of hierarchical models. Both attitudinal and situational factors affect the use of physicians'' services. The variables do not always relate to utilization in the manner predictable from the literature. Belief in the effectiveness of medical care has a consistent positive impact on service utilization, but trust in physicians typically is negatively correlated with the use of services. The financial variables have direct effects in only one instance, but frequently interact with other variables. Overall, the impact of the financial variables is weaker than that of the attitudinal variables.

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