Factors affecting utilization of health centers in a rural area of Chon Buri Province, Thailand.

A descriptive study was carried out in two subdistricts of Nong Heng and Nong Kakha, Phan Thong District, Chon Buri Province eastern Thailand with the aim to determine factors affecting health center utilization. A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 206 randomly selected households in which household head or senior person in each household was interviewed using a structured questionnaire. The study household was classified as either high or low health center utilization group on the basis of using health services more than 50% of total health services needed in each household. The results revealed that age group, sex, education, family size, and distance from household to health center were not associated with the utilization of health center, whereas occupation, economic status, knowledge and attitude towards health center and quality as well as convenience of health services were found to be associated with health center utilization. It was seemed that underutilization of health centers was multifactorial, in which some factors were related with the personality of individual whereas others were concerned with the health center itself.