Differences in health care utilization in Bavi District, Vietnam, 2002–2011

Health care utilization of different socio-economic groups is a very important factor for the policy-making process. Being aware of the model of health care utilization can help policy makers to evaluate the accessibility to health care services, evaluate the responsiveness of the health sector to people’s needs and thus can adapt the health care services to the real situation. Capturing the differences in health care utilization of different demographic and socio-economic groups can help to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor in health care utilization, and thus can improve the health inequity in the society.The study aims at evaluating the differences in health care utilization among different demographic and socio-economic groups in Bavi district, Vietnam in the period of 2002 – 2011.This study analyzed a panel data of 45,326 individuals in 11,056 households with their demographic and socio-economic information in 2002, 2007 and 2011. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression for panel data were applied to capture the trend and distinguish the associations between demographic and socio-economic factors with the use of different types of health care services including self-treatment, the use of health care services at communal health centers, district hospitals, provincial/central hospitals and private clinics.Private clinics and self-treatment were used most commonly in Bavi in 2002, 2007 and 2011. There were significant differences in health care utilization among different demographic and socio-economic groups. Rich people tended to use more health care services at provincial/central hospitals while poor people treated themselves at home more frequently. Males used more formal treatment at provincial/central hospitals, district hospitals and private clinics than females. People with higher educational level and married people tended to use more tertiary and secondary care. Famers were more familiar with self-treatment. Therefore, more efforts should be made to improve the accessibility to health care services at higher level for the poor, and for people belonging to lower social classes.