Department of Health Services and Hospital Administration, Faculty of Economics and Administration, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Health Economics Research Group, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Front Public Health. 2021 Sep 17;9:745356. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.745356. eCollection 2021.
Undertaking preventive health check-ups has proven to be an important strategy in the fight against several diseases. However, various socioeconomic circumstances may hinder participating in such an important health exercise for many people. With the growth in the burden of non-communicable diseases in Saudi Arabia, it is thus essential that people take an active role in undertaking preventive health check-ups. However, the extent to which this behavior is determined by inequalities in socioeconomic circumstances remains not well-documented. The aim of this study was to examine the socioeconomic inequalities in undertaking preventive health check-ups in Saudi Arabia, using a national survey with a sample of 11,528 respondents. Data from the Saudi Family Health Survey conducted in 2018 by the General Authority for Statistics were used for the analysis of this study. Univariate, bivariate, and multivariate logistic regression analyses were employed to examine the socioeconomic factors associated with undertaking preventive health check-ups. Concentration indices were calculated, and associated concentration curves were used to assess the socioeconomic inequalities in preventive health check-ups uptake. Moreover, decomposition analysis was performed to examine the extent to which the socioeconomic variables affect uptake of preventive health check-ups. The results reveal that being older adults, more educated, insured, and married increase the probability of undertaking preventive health check-ups. Regarding socioeconomic inequalities, preventive health check-ups uptake was concentrated among the wealthier (concentration index: 0.0831; < 0.001). However, some differences were observed in terms of socioeconomic inequality across the regions. Decomposition of the Erreygers index supported the analysis of the determinants and suggested that income, and education were the primary drivers of the associated inequality. These results suggest that the government of Saudi Arabia should develop intervention programs and strategies that promote the uptake of health check-ups among the vulnerable group to reduce inequalities. Of particular importance is the need for more health-related education among the poor and those with lower education in order to raise their awareness on the benefits and advantages of conducting health examinations.
开展预防保健检查已被证明是防治多种疾病的重要策略。然而,由于各种社会经济情况,许多人可能无法参与这一重要的健康活动。随着沙特阿拉伯非传染性疾病负担的增加,人们积极参与预防保健检查至关重要。然而,这种行为在多大程度上受到社会经济不平等情况的影响,仍缺乏充分记录。本研究旨在利用一项全国性调查,以 11528 名受访者为样本,考察沙特阿拉伯开展预防保健检查的社会经济不平等情况。本研究分析所使用的数据来自沙特统计总局于 2018 年开展的沙特家庭健康调查。本研究采用单变量、双变量和多变量逻辑回归分析,考察与开展预防保健检查相关的社会经济因素。计算集中指数,并使用相关集中曲线评估预防保健检查参与度的社会经济不平等情况。此外,还进行了分解分析,以考察社会经济变量对预防保健检查参与度的影响程度。研究结果表明,年龄较大、受教育程度较高、有保险和已婚的人更有可能开展预防保健检查。在社会经济不平等方面,预防保健检查的参与度集中在较富裕的人群中(集中指数:0.0831;<0.001)。然而,在不同地区,社会经济不平等程度存在一些差异。埃雷杰斯指数的分解支持了对决定因素的分析,并表明收入和教育是相关不平等的主要驱动因素。这些结果表明,沙特阿拉伯政府应制定干预计划和战略,促进弱势群体接受健康检查,以减少不平等现象。特别重要的是,需要对贫困人群和受教育程度较低的人群进行更多与健康相关的教育,以提高他们对进行健康检查的好处和优势的认识。