Marco Terraneo
Inequities in health care utilization by people aged 50+: Evidence from 12 European countries
University of Milano-Bicocca
aim study describe magnitude educational inequities use health care services people aged 50 12 european countries controlling countrylevel heterogeneity consider four services seen talked 1 general practitioner gp 2 specialist 3 hospitalized 4 visited dentist prevention data derived share survey health ageing retirement europe project crossnational panel collects information individuals aged 50 fixed effects approach applied valuable alternative application conventional multilevel models countrycomparative analysis main findings study confirm substantial educational inequity use health care although relevant differences arise services clear proeducated gradient found specialists dentist visits whereas evidence educational disparities found gp use hand less clear results emerge regarding hospitalizations however analysis shows microlevel dimensions ie individual needs predisposing enabling population characteristics macro level factors ie health care system welfare regime interact determine peoples use health services concluded people education level resources cognitive communicative relational allow make informed choices take effective actions health goals however institutional context may modify relationship