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BMC Infect Dis
. 2025 Jul 29;25(1):957.
doi: 10.1186/s12879-025-11301-x. Healthcare-Seeking behavior for acute respiratory infections in a community population in Southwest China during the 2021-2023 influenza seasons
Qing Wang # 1 , Mingyue Jiang # 2 , Tingting Li # 3 , Yuhua Ren 4 , Jiang Long 3 , Jia Li 4 , Yunshao Xu 1 , Yanlin Cao 1 , Jie Qian 1 , Weizhong Yang 1 , Mengmeng Jia 5 , Li Qi 6 , Luzhao Feng 7
Affiliations
Background: The healthcare-seeking behavior for acute respiratory infection (ARI) is a crucial denominator in estimating the respiratory disease burden. This study aimed to assess the healthcare-seeking behaviors among community residents with ARI and identify key factors influencing their healthcare preference.
Methods: A cross-sectional community questionnaire survey was carried out in Wanzhou, a district in southwest China, following the winter-spring influenza peaks in the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 seasons. Employing post-stratified estimation and chi-square tests, we adjusted and compared healthcare-seeking rates. We used multinomial logistic regression to discern the factors influencing medical behaviors.
Results: We collected questionnaires from 9,702 residents of 52 communities. Following demographic adjustment, approximately 19% of the community population had ARI symptoms, with 45% of those infected seeking medical assistance. Compared with the 2021-2022 season, the survey in the 2022-2023 season showed ARI prevalence had an upsurge in individuals aged ≥ 60 (from 21.48 to 26.33%) and among those earning a monthly income below 1000 RMB (from 19.91 to 35.51%), while healthcare-seeking rate showed a significant downtrend for the above groups (from 61.11 to 49.05% for the elderly and 48.45 to 34.17% for low-income individuals). ARI cases had the highest preference of primary healthcare institutions in the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 seasons (16.58% and 22.06%). The key factors influencing the ARI inclination towards primary healthcare institutions included geographical proximity, familiarity with doctors, educational qualification at or below the primary school, and being a designated facility under medical insurance.
Conclusions: Prioritizing the enhancement of geographical convenience and economic measures for particularly vulnerable groups, especially the elderly and low-income populations, is an essential public health strategy in promoting more equitable and timely access to health services. Enhancing the professional capabilities of primary medical institutions in managing acute respiratory infections, specifically through an expanded range of pharmaceuticals, advanced treatment equipment, and a well-trained medical workforce, will help to ease the burden on secondary or tertiary hospitals during the seasonal peaks of ARI.
Keywords: Acute respiratory infection; Healthcare behavior; Healthcare-seeking; Respiratory disease.
. 2025 Jul 29;25(1):957.
doi: 10.1186/s12879-025-11301-x. Healthcare-Seeking behavior for acute respiratory infections in a community population in Southwest China during the 2021-2023 influenza seasons
Qing Wang # 1 , Mingyue Jiang # 2 , Tingting Li # 3 , Yuhua Ren 4 , Jiang Long 3 , Jia Li 4 , Yunshao Xu 1 , Yanlin Cao 1 , Jie Qian 1 , Weizhong Yang 1 , Mengmeng Jia 5 , Li Qi 6 , Luzhao Feng 7
Affiliations
- PMID: 40730959
- DOI: 10.1186/s12879-025-11301-x
Background: The healthcare-seeking behavior for acute respiratory infection (ARI) is a crucial denominator in estimating the respiratory disease burden. This study aimed to assess the healthcare-seeking behaviors among community residents with ARI and identify key factors influencing their healthcare preference.
Methods: A cross-sectional community questionnaire survey was carried out in Wanzhou, a district in southwest China, following the winter-spring influenza peaks in the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 seasons. Employing post-stratified estimation and chi-square tests, we adjusted and compared healthcare-seeking rates. We used multinomial logistic regression to discern the factors influencing medical behaviors.
Results: We collected questionnaires from 9,702 residents of 52 communities. Following demographic adjustment, approximately 19% of the community population had ARI symptoms, with 45% of those infected seeking medical assistance. Compared with the 2021-2022 season, the survey in the 2022-2023 season showed ARI prevalence had an upsurge in individuals aged ≥ 60 (from 21.48 to 26.33%) and among those earning a monthly income below 1000 RMB (from 19.91 to 35.51%), while healthcare-seeking rate showed a significant downtrend for the above groups (from 61.11 to 49.05% for the elderly and 48.45 to 34.17% for low-income individuals). ARI cases had the highest preference of primary healthcare institutions in the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 seasons (16.58% and 22.06%). The key factors influencing the ARI inclination towards primary healthcare institutions included geographical proximity, familiarity with doctors, educational qualification at or below the primary school, and being a designated facility under medical insurance.
Conclusions: Prioritizing the enhancement of geographical convenience and economic measures for particularly vulnerable groups, especially the elderly and low-income populations, is an essential public health strategy in promoting more equitable and timely access to health services. Enhancing the professional capabilities of primary medical institutions in managing acute respiratory infections, specifically through an expanded range of pharmaceuticals, advanced treatment equipment, and a well-trained medical workforce, will help to ease the burden on secondary or tertiary hospitals during the seasonal peaks of ARI.
Keywords: Acute respiratory infection; Healthcare behavior; Healthcare-seeking; Respiratory disease.