Abstract
BackgroundPeople with lifestyle behaviors, such as current smoking, regular drinking, and physical inactivity, may experience a lack of or delayed health care, leading to severe sickness and higher health care expenditures in the future. Hence, the current study aims to ascertain the effects of current smoking, regular drinking, and physical inactivity on health care-seeking behavior among adults who report physical discomfort in China.MethodsThe data used in this study were obtained from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS). The final sample consisted of 44,362 individuals who participated in all five waves of data collection. Logistic regression models were used for the analysis.ResultsThe results of fixed effects logistic regression showed that among those who reported physical discomfort, adults who currently smoked cigarettes were 0.65 times less likely to seek health care than those who formerly smoked. Compared to nondrinkers, adults who regularly drank alcohol had a decreased likelihood of seeking health care. Adults who never engaged in physical exercise had 24% lower odds of seeking health care than those who engaged in physical exercise.ConclusionsCurrent smoking, regular drinking, and physical inactivity decreased the probability of seeking health care among adults who reported physical discomfort. Therefore, screening and brief advice programs should be delivered by primary-level care and should pay more attention to individuals who engage in lifestyle behaviors such as current smoking, regular drinking, and physical inactivity, thus avoiding missed opportunities to treat chronic conditions and detect new diseases early.
Highlights
People with lifestyle behaviors, such as current smoking, regular drinking, and physical inactivity, may experience a lack of or delayed health care, leading to severe sickness and higher health care expenditures in the future
In 2015, a Chinese national nutrition and chronic disease report indicated that the prevalences of current smoking, harmful drinking, and physical inactivity among adults were 28.1, 9.3, and 71.3%, respectively [1]; these preventable risk factors have contributed to the increased rise in chronic diseases
Adults who never engaged in physical exercise had 24% lower odds of seeking healthcare than those who engaged in physical exercise (OR = 0.76, 95% confidence intervals (CIs): 0.69, 0.83)
Summary
People with lifestyle behaviors, such as current smoking, regular drinking, and physical inactivity, may experience a lack of or delayed health care, leading to severe sickness and higher health care expenditures in the future. People with lifestyle behaviors including current smoking, regular drinking, and physical inactivity may not care about their health status or may be risk-tolerant individuals. As a result, they may experience a lack of or delayed health care, thereby leading to severe sickness and higher health care expenditures in the future [9,10,11]
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