Learning healthcare needs when the body speaks: Insights from a 2016 Vietnamese survey on general physical examinations

Abstract

Background: General health examinations (GHEs) help Vietnamese detect early signs of illness and serve to be an important part of preventive medicine. Having GHEs can help reduce risks of poverty due to prolonged medical treatments in Vietnam, as 70% patients without health insurance face financial burdens caused by expensive treatments. Aims & Objectives: Does owning a medicine cabinet or having practical first-aid knowledge and skills have effects on people’s attitude towards GHEs? Materials & Methods: Analysis is performed on a 2,068-observation dataset, collected from a survey towards GHEs propensity collected in Hanoi and its vicinities. The methods of baseline-categorical logit model and ordinary least square are used to estimate the probabilities. Results: (1) There exist differences in the tendency of attending GHEs between those with and without a family medicine cabinet, and knowledge of using basic medical equipment; (2) The factors of age, gender, job and marital status are also proven related to body mass index (BMI). Conclusion: People who have common medical tools in the family and medical skills are likely to have GHEs more often. The likelihood of being over-weight is higher when people become older, especially among women.