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Difficulties Visiting Hospitals in the Mountainous Areas in Japan

Suzuki Y, Nakanishi K, Okura Y, Kawaminami S, Takahashi R, Kitou H, Dan H, Yamaguchi H and Tani K

The relationship between hospital-visit costs and difficulties visiting hospitals has not been clarified. Consequently, in this study we examined individuals from a mountainous and a city region of Tokushima Prefecture, Japan, to determine the difficulties these people experience visiting hospitals and the impacts of their environment in this regard.

A questionnaire was distributed to patients who visited Kaminaka Hospital, located in a mountainous area of Tokushima Prefecture, and ones who visited Aijitsu Hospital, which is located in a city in the same prefecture. These data were analyzed using chi-square tests and the Mann-Whitney test.

For the mountain-based group, the time required for hospital visits was significantly longer than that of the city-based group. Further, the mountain-based group had higher costs required for hospital visits than the city-based group. Significantly more patients in the mountain-based low-income group than the city-based low-income group reported experiencing difficulties. Finally, in the mountain-based low-income group there was a tendency for a significant relationship between the monthly cost required for hospital visits and experiencing difficulties making such visits? This study indicates that low-income patients in the mountainous region of Tokushima Prefecture tend to experience difficulties visiting hospitals, mainly due to the costs of such visits.