Utilization of medical service among residents in rural earthquake stricken area and area without disaster

Objective To investigate the utilization of medical service among residents in rural disaster area and the area without disaster,and to explore the influencing factors related to utilization of medical service for policy-making.Methods Stratified cluster sampling and face-to-face survey were carried out to collect data.Totally 521 participnts from earthquake stricken area and 479 participants from an area without disaster returned the questionnaires.Chi-square test and logistic regression were used to analyse the data.Results There was no significant difference in the main characteristics of participants between two areas; the prevalence of chronic disease was 25.1% and 17.5%,respectively.The medical cousel-ling rate in the participants in the rural disaster area was 54.7‰ and 28.0‰ in the area without disaster.Age,income,distance from home to hospital near home,and suffering from chronic disease were main influencing factors for utilization of medical service in the disaster area.But marriage status,education,gender were influencing factors related to medical service utilization in the area without disaster.Conclusion The ulilization of medical service and its related factors are different between the residents in rural disaster area and the area without disaster.