ArticleBMC health services research2014
Social inequalities in self-reported refraining from health care due to financial reasons in Sweden: health care on equal terms?
Article in BMC health services research, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 39 citations in OpenAlex.
- Mental healthcare utilization among migrants and Swedish-born adults accounting for probable needs, 2006-2022.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2026Article
- Financial accessibility of healthcare: characteristics of people who refrain from healthcare due to costs over the period 2016-2024, a repeated cross-sectional study.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Risk of colorectal cancer by socioeconomic position and history of mental illness - a national nested case-control study.BMC cancer · 2026Article
- More or less equal? Trends in horizontal equity in mental health care utilization in Stockholm county, Sweden (2006-2022). Repeated survey-registry linked studies.International journal for equity in health · 2025Article
- Refraining from seeking dental care among the Sámi in Sweden: a cross-sectional study.International journal for equity in health · 2024Article
- Prevalence and factors associated with healthcare avoidance during the COVID-19 pandemic among the Sámi in Sweden: the SámiHET study.International journal of circumpolar health · 2023Article
- Diagnostic spirometry in COPD is increasing, a comparison of two Swedish cohorts.NPJ primary care respiratory medicine · 2023Article
- Association between Poverty and Refraining from Seeking Medical Care during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan: A Prospective Cohort Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Association of marital status and access to dental care among the Japanese population: a cross-sectional study.BMC oral health · 2022Article
- Development of healthcare use across contemporary retirement pathways: results from a register based cohort study.Scandinavian journal of public health · 2022Article
- Health system reforms and the needs of the ageing population-an analysis of recent policy paths and reform trends in Finland and Sweden.European journal of ageing · 2022Article
- Article
- Healthcare seeking among Swedish patients in opioid substitution treatment - a mixed methods study on barriers and facilitators.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2022Article
- Inequalities in Unmet Oral Health Care Need Among Adults in East Iran, a Cross Sectional Population-Based Study.Journal of dentistry (Shiraz, Iran) · 2021Article
- Workplace social capital and refraining from seeking medical care in Japanese employees: a 1-year prospective cohort study.BMJ open · 2020Article
- The association of self-reported discrimination to all-cause mortality: A population-based prospective cohort study.SSM - population health · 2019Article
- Organizational Justice and Refraining from Seeking Medical Care Among Japanese Employees: A 1-Year Prospective Cohort Study.International journal of behavioral medicine · 2019Article
- Income disparities in healthcare use remain after controlling for healthcare need: evidence from Swedish register data on psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis.The European journal of health economics : HEPAC : health economics in prevention and care · 2018Article
- Does risk-adjusted payment influence primary care providers' decision on where to set up practices?BMC health services research · 2018Article
- Labor factor barriers to seeking medical services among metropolitan workers: a cross-sectional analysis by sex using the J-SHINE study.Journal of occupational health · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe main goal of the health care system in Sweden is good health and health care on equal terms for the entire population. This study investigated the existence of social inequalities in refraining from health care due to financial reasons in Sweden.
methodsThe study is based on 38,536 persons who responded to a survey questionnaire sent to a random sample of men and women aged 18-84 years in 2008 (response rate 59%). The proportion of persons who during the past three months due to financial reasons limited or refrained from seeking health care, purchasing medicine or seeking dental care is reported. The groups were defined by gender, age, country of origin, educational level and employment status. The prevalence of longstanding illness was used to describe morbidity in these groups. Differences between groups were tested with chi-squared statistics and multivariate logistic regression models.
resultsIn total, 3% reported that they had limited or refrained from seeking health care, 4% from purchasing medicine and 10% from seeking dental care. To refrain from seeking health care was much more common among the unemployed (12%) and those on disability pension (10%) than among employees (2%). It was also more common among young adults and persons born outside the Nordic countries. Similar differences also apply to purchasing medicine and dental care. The odds for refraining from seeking health care, purchasing medicine or seeking dental care due to financial reasons were 2-3 times higher among persons with longstanding illness than among persons with no longstanding illness.
conclusionsThere are social inequalities in self-reported refraining from health care due to financial reasons in Sweden even though the absolute levels vary between different types of care. Often those in most need refrain from seeking health care which contradicts the national goal of the health care system. The results suggest that the fare systems of health care and dental care should be revised because they contribute to inequalities in health care.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.