Utilization of Health Services and its Associated Factors among Elderly People in A Municipality, Jumla, Nepal

Abstract

Background
Globally, people are living longer. Every country is experiencing an increase in its elderly population. The health issues associated with ageing lead to a greater demand for health services and their utilization.1, 5 The objective of this study was to identify the health service utilization and its associated factors among older adults. 
Methods
A cross-sectional study was conducted among 92 elderly people residing in Chandannath Municipality, Jumla. The simple random sampling technique by lottery method was used to select the wards, and systematic random sampling was used to select households. There were a total of 1001 households in the selected wards.  The data were collected from May 26th to June 14th 2024, for 3 weeks using a semi-structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics (frequency and percentage) and inferential statistics (Chi-square test) were used to analyze the data using SPSS 16. 
Results
Nearly half of the elderly people were between the ages of 60-68 years, 47.8% were illiterate, 78% had old age allowance, 51.1% were ex-smokers, and only 12% were current alcohol drinkers. More than half (79.3%) of elderly people utilized health services. The majority (83.7%) had government health insurance. Among them, 76.1% were satisfied with government health insurance service. Having government health insurance services, satisfaction with government health insurance services, family support, and medication for health problems were significantly associated with health service utilization.
Conclusions
The factors influencing health service utilization include having government health insurance service, satisfaction with government health insurance service, family support, and medication for health problems. In order to improve health service utilization among the elderly, healthcare professionals should provide fair access to health services for them.