A Study on the general population's attitude and related factor on the continuity of medical care

의료 지속성에 대한 일반인들의 태도 및 관련요인 - 사무직 직원들을 대상으로 -

This study is aimed to assess the general population's attitude toward the continuity of medical care and its related factors. Self administered questionnaire was performed on the 1,120 office workers in the C city, Gang-won province. The questionnaire included the attitude of the continuity of medical institute, the intention of medical service use on a given case, and the variables of the related factors. 58.8% of the total respondents agreed to sustaining treatment without changing medical institutes; on the other hand, 41.2% showed negative attitude. In case that a patient would gain a recommendation of a surgery, hospitalization, or a specific examination, the total respondents' 84.9%, 61.8%, and 50.8% of each recommended situation said that they would visit another doctor and gain a diagnosis. As a result of multiple logistic analysis of determinant factor on continuity, reliability of doctors was statistically significant factor. In order to reduce wastefully used medical resources and offer well-qualified medical service, a system of second opinion among peer group or beforehand agreement could be possibly adopted. In addition, improving the image and reliability of a doctor could be an important factor to make better the behavior of medical service shopping; therefore, an effort to improve the relationship between a doctor and a patient, and restore the reliability of doctors should be paralleled.