HEALTH-SERVICE UTILIZATION BY THE 60-YEAR -OLD AND OLDER POPULATION IN MEXICO

Objective. To describe the sociodemographic characteristics and determ inants of health services utilization by the Mexican population of 60 years of age or more. Material and methods. Information obtained from the National Health Survey II (ENSA-II) allowed analysis of 4 628 elde rly people. Prevalence of chronic diseases was analyzed and the determ inants of individuals who had used the health services in the two week s prior to the interview. Results. The chronic diseases most frequentl y reported were: hypertension, diabetes and heart disease. The utiliza tion and hospitalization rates of that age group were 11.4 and 5.5%, r espectively. The services most frequently used were: the private physi cian, social security (IMSS, ISSSTE) welfare services (Ministry of Hea lth -SSA- and IMSS-Solidaridad). Interestingly, 25 to 45% of social se curity insurance holders did not use the services, instead they consul ted a private physician. The most important explanatory variables for health services utilization were: the perceived illness, not having wo rked for the previous week and being a social security insurance holde r. Gender, area of residence and level of education were not significa nt in the explanation of health services utilization. Conclusions. Thi s study demonstrates the need to strengthen preventive and support pro grams for the elderly population, since they only demand health servic es when they feel sick.