ArticleBMC health services research2021
What resources do elderly people choose for managing their symptoms? Clarification of rural older people's choices of help-seeking behaviors in Japan.
Article in BMC health services research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- Challenges in Help-Seeking Behaviors among Rural Older People Mitigated through Family Physician-Driven Outreach: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Older People's Help-Seeking Behaviors in Rural Contexts: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Facilitating and Hindering Factors of Health Help-Seeking Behavior in Patients with Chronic Diseases: A Qualitative Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Frailty Syndrome in Rural Communities: A Narrative Review and Interviews With Rural Individuals.Cureus · 2024Article
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- Rural health dialogue for the sustainability of help-seeking behaviors among older patients: grounded theory approach.BMC geriatrics · 2023Article
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- Associations between Perception of Help-Seeking Behaviors and Quality of Life among Older People in Rural Communities: A Cross-Sectional Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
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- Relationship between Dysphagia and Home Discharge among Older Patients Receiving Hospital Rehabilitation in Rural Japan: A Retrospective Cohort Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
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- Seronegative Ocular Myasthenia Gravis in an Older Woman With Transient Dizziness and Diplopia.Cureus · 2022Article
- Rural Easy Japanese as a Method of Mitigating Language Barriers Among Foreigners Seeking Medical Care in Rural Japan.Cureus · 2022Article
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- Improvement in Quality of Life through Self-Management of Mild Symptoms during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Prospective Cohort Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Association between Self-Medication for Mild Symptoms and Quality of Life among Older Adults in Rural Japan: A Cross-Sectional Study.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2022Article
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Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAppropriate help-seeking behavior (HSB) that involves lay and professional care may moderate the usage of medical resources and promote good health, especially among the rural elderly. However, there is little evidence regarding the rural elderly's HSB choices for mild symptoms. Therefore, this study attempts to bridge this gap.
methodsThe participants were patients living in rural areas and over the age of 65, who attended Japanese clinics and general hospitals. In Phase 1, monthly diaries and one-on-one interviews about their mild symptoms and HSB were used to establish HSB items and assess its content validity. Content analysis helped determine the items. In Phase 2, participants were asked to complete the list to measure HSB. The answers to the list and HSB mentioned in the diaries were compared to evaluate concurrent validity. Retests were conducted to examine the content's reliability and test-retest reliability.
resultsPhase 1 included 267 participants (average age = 75.1 years, standard deviation [SD] = 4.3; 50.1% male). The diary collection rate was 97.6%. Of the participants, 70.4% used lay care and 25.4% used professional care. Content analysis identified eight types of lay care and four types of professional care. Phase 2 included 315 participants (average age = 77.7 years, SD = 8.27; 46.0% male). In terms of validity, the results of the list and the diaries were correlated (Spearman r 0.704; p < 0.001). The most common behavior with mild symptoms was consulting with primary care physicians, followed by self-care and using home medicine. The test-retest reliability for mild symptoms found kappa values of 0.836 for lay care and 0.808 for professional care.
conclusionsThe choices of HSB for mild symptoms clarified identified in this study have high validity and reliability. Therefore, it can be used to assess the relationships between HSB and health conditions and the effectiveness of health promotion on rural older people's HSB.
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Registered trials
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