ArticleInternational journal for equity in health2021
Annual prevalence of unmet healthcare need in Thailand: evidence from national household surveys between 2011 and 2019.
Article in International journal for equity in health, 2021. 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, 48 citations in OpenAlex.
- Socioeconomic and geographic inequalities in dental care utilization among Thai older adults: trends and determinants, 2009-2021.BMC oral health · 2026Article
- Trends and projections in prostate cancer epidemiology in Thailand: A population-based cancer registry analysis.Asian journal of urology · 2026Article
- Factors influencing healthcare access among older adults in Southeast Asia: a scoping review guided by the levesque framework.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Observational
- Unmet healthcare needs, out-of-pocket payments and catastrophic health expenditures among hypertensive adults in Bangladesh.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Use of total knee arthroplasty by type of public insurance scheme: a cross-sectional study based on claims data in Thailand.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Nationwide spatial dynamics of taeniasis in Thailand: declining prevalence but shifting focus and One Health risk factors across 2008-2014.Parasites & vectors · 2025Article
- Spatial variation and associated factors of unmet need for family planning among reproductive age women in Ethiopia, insights from 2021 PMA-Ethiopia data: multilevel logistic regression analysis.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Understanding Unmet Healthcare Needs in Nigeria: Implications for Universal Health Coverage.Health services insights · 2025Article
- Variation in coronary revascularisation and mortality after myocardial infarction across three public health insurance schemes in Thailand: an observational analysis from nationwide claims data.BMJ public health · 2025Article
- To what extent did households in developing countries forgo needed healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic? Repeated survey estimates from 25 countries in 2020 and 2021.BMJ public health · 2024Article
- Un/met: a mixed-methods study on primary healthcare needs of the poorest population in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan.International journal for equity in health · 2024Article
- Unmet Medication Needs and the Association with Mortality in Older Adults: Equality-Oriented Monitoring toward Universal Health Coverage.Aging and disease · 2024Article
- Utilisation of and factors associated with non-COVID-19 healthcare services in public facilities amongst cross-border migrants in Thailand, 2019-2022.BMC public health · 2024Article
- The association of physical activity and sedentary behaviour on health-related quality of life: a cross-sectional study from the physical activity at work (PAW) trial.Journal of activity, sedentary and sleep behaviors · 2023Article
- Better data on unmet healthcare need can strengthen global monitoring of universal health coverage.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2023Article
- Towards Cultural Adequacy of Experience-Based Design: A Qualitative Evaluation of Community-Integrated Intermediary Care to Enhance the Family-Based Long-Term Care for Thai Older Adults.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Socioeconomic inequalities in health outcomes among Thai older population in the era of Universal Health Coverage: trends and decomposition analysis.International journal for equity in health · 2023Article
- Inequalities in access to new medication delivery services among non-communicable disease patients during the COVID-19 pandemic: findings from nationally representative surveys in Thailand.International journal for equity in health · 2023Article
- The association between health costs and physical inactivity; analysis from the Physical Activity at Work study in Thailand.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundExtending Universal Health Coverage (UHC) requires identifying and addressing unmet healthcare need and its causes to improve access to essential health services. Unmet need is a useful monitoring indicator to verify if low incidence of catastrophic health spending is not a result of foregone services due to unmet needs. This study assesses the trend, between 2011 and 2019, of prevalence and reasons of unmet healthcare need and identifies population groups who had unmet needs.
methodThe unmet healthcare need module in the Health and Welfare Survey (HWS) 2011-2019 was used for analysis. HWS is a nationally representative household survey conducted by the National Statistical Office biennially. There are more than 60,000 respondents in each round of survey. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) standard questions on unmet need and reasons behind were applied for outpatient (OP), inpatient (IP) and dental services in the past 12 months. Data from samples were weighted to represent the Thai population. Univariate analysis was applied to assess unmet need across socioeconomic profiles.
resultsThe annual prevalence of unmet need between 2011 and 2019 was lower than 3%. The prevalence was 1.3-1.6% for outpatient services, 0.9% - 1.1% for dental services, and lower than 0.2% for inpatient care. A small increasing trend was observed on dental service unmet need, from 0.9% in 2011 to 1.1% in 2019. The poor, the elderly and people living in urban areas had higher unmet needs than their counterparts. Long waiting times was the main reason for unmet need, while cost of treatment was not an issue.
conclusionThe low level of unmet need at less than 3% was lower than OECD average (28%), and was the result of UHC since 2002. Regular monitoring using the national representative household survey to estimate annual prevalence and reasons for unmet need can guide policy to sustain and improve access by certain population groups.
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