증상인식(症狀認識)과 예기적(豫期的) 의료추구(醫療追求)에 관한 연구(硏究)

Symptom Recognition and Anticipatory Health Care Seeking

It is discussed in a social epidemiology that a symptom would be regarded as an illness or not by the inhabitants' socio-economic status, ages and races, and the aspects of health care seeking are various according to the above-mentioned characteristics. This paper surveyed the symptom recognition and health care seeking following a questionnaire that, of 14 symptom groups presented, which symptom would be regarded an illness necessary for medical treatment, and if it is regarded as an illness, which kind of medical treatment would be thought to be reasonable. As a result, differently from the general theory of social epidemiology, statistical differences according to independent variables was not found in symptom recognition, which indicates that Korean medical culture is similar between urban and rural areas. But in anticipatory health care seeking, various health care seekings were performed following the symptoms. Especially, general hospitals' medical care was thought to be more desirable by the inhabitants in city area than in rural area ; youngers than olders; high-incomers than low-incomers ; new or old middle class or urban laborers than rural farmers ; and the highly educated than the low educated. Conversely, the latters seeked some treatments by pharmacy.