Conservation of energy, uncertainty reduction, and swift utilization of medical care among the elderly.
Conservation of energy, uncertainty reduction, and swift utilization of medical care among the elderly.
复制标题
节约能源、减少不确定性、快速利用老年人的医疗服务。
DOI：
10.1093/geronj/48.2.p78
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发表时间：
1993
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Easterling,D
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Leventhal,EA;Leventhal,H;Schaefer,P;Easterling,D
这项研究考察了年龄差异在决定就医时间上的差异。两个队列，一个中年人(40至55岁，n=88)和一个老年患者(65岁及以上，n=80)，他们在就诊时对有症状的患者进行问诊。对总延迟(从第一次注意到症状到需要护理的时间)及其两个构成阶段的年龄差异进行了审查：评估延迟(症状出现，直到确定一个人生病)和疾病延迟(决定一个人生病，直到要求护理)。预计老年人会更节约体力和精神资源，因此寻求护理的速度会更快。对于被判断为严重程度不确定的症状，队列效应预计最明显。延迟结果和关于延迟原因的辅助发现总体上支持这些假设，但需要注意的是，队列差异也反映了中年人比老年受试者更高的回避行为水平。
This study examined age differences in the timing of the decision to seek medical care. Two cohorts, one of middle-aged (40 to 55 years, n = 88) and one of older patients (65 and over, n = 80), who sought medical care when symptomatic were interviewed at the time of their visit. Age differences were examined with respect to total delay (the time from first noticing symptoms until calling for care), as well as its two constituent phases: appraisal delay (symptom onset until deciding one was ill) and illness delay (decision one was ill until calling for care). Older persons were expected to be more conserving of physical and psychic resources, and thus quicker in seeking care. The cohort effect was expected to be most visible for symptoms judged to be of uncertain seriousness. The delay results and ancillary findings on reasons given for delay are generally supportive of the hypotheses, with the caveat that the cohort difference also reflects higher levels of avoidance behavior by the middle-aged than by the older subjects.