Abstract
ObjectiveTo determine the role of personality in health care use longitudinally.MethodsData were derived from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP), a nationally representative, longitudinal cohort study of German households starting in 1984. Concentrating on the role of personality, we used data from the years 2005, 2009 and 2013. Personality was measured by using the GSOEP Big Five Inventory (BFI-S). Number of physician visits in the last 3 months and hospital stays in the last year were used as measures of health care use.ResultsAdjusting for predisposing factors, enabling resources, and need factors, fixed effects regressions revealed that physician visits increased with increasing neuroticism, whereas extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness and conscientiousness did not affect physician visits in a significant way. The effect of self-rated health on physician visits was significantly moderated by neuroticism. Moreover, fixed effects regressions revealed that the probability of hospitalization in the past year increased with increasing extraversion, whereas the other personality factors did not affect this outcome measure significantly.ConclusionOur findings suggest that changes in neuroticism are associated with changes in physician visits and that changes in extraversion are associated with the probability of hospitalization. Since recent studies have shown that treatments can modify personality traits, developing interventional strategies should take into account personality factors. For example, efforts to intervene in changing neuroticism might have beneficial effects for the healthcare system.
Highlights
BackgroundTo understand factors that influence people’s health care use has been an important research area for several decades
Our findings suggest that changes in neuroticism are associated with changes in physician visits and that changes in extraversion are associated with the probability of hospitalization
Since recent studies have shown that treatments can modify personality traits, developing interventional strategies should take into account personality factors
Summary
BackgroundTo understand factors that influence people’s health care use has been an important research area for several decades. Since the 1960s various theoretical frameworks have been developed to identify determinants of health care use [1]. Many studies examining patterns of health care use referred to the Andersen Behavioral Model [2] as a theoretical framework for their empirical analyses. Andersen and Newman distinguish between three main components of determinants of health care use: predisposing factors, enabling resources, and need factors. An enabling resource can be on the personal, family or community level, while need factors are either perceived or evaluated. Age, gender, marital status, educational level, or ethnicity defined the predisposing factors in many studies. None of the studies between 1998 and 2011 reviewed by Babitsch and colleagues [3] considered personality traits as predisposing nor as independent factors potentially explaining patterns of health care use. Andersen [2] suggested that psychological factors could be taken into consideration in his model
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
