The aim of this study is to evaluate factors influencing utilization of health services by women aged 15 years and older having any health symptoms within the previous 15 days in a city center located in the eastern part of Turkey. In this cross-sectional study, subjects (1,000 households) were sampled from the "city-information-system" based on household satellite photographs of the city. Nine hundred and thirty-five households out of 1,000 were included in the study (response rate: 93.5%), and 1,613 subjects were interviewed. Seven hundred and eighteen women out of 1,613 participants reported at least one health symptom (44.5%), and of these, only 208 (29.1%) reported utilization of health services for these symptoms. The mean age of those 208 participants was 36.8 (±14.1) years, with a range from 15 to 77. Most were illiterate (56.7%); 79.8% were covered by social insurance; 66.4% were married (legal and religious marriage); and only 3.4% worked outside the home. Those who utilized health services for their health symptoms within the previous 15 days were more likely to be highly educated, to be covered with a social insurance for health expenses, to have a chronic disease, and to use health services for check-ups. Other factors such as economic conditions and type of the disease, etc. might have influenced health service utilization. Future studies in larger populations are recommended for further analysis (logistic regression modeling) in the same region.

The aim of this study is to evaluate factors influencing utilization of health services by women aged 15 years and older having any health symptoms within the previous 15 days in a city center located in the eastern part of Turkey. In this cross-sectional study, subjects (1,000 households) were sampled from the "city-information-system" based on household satellite photographs of the city. Nine hundred and thirty-five households out of 1,000 were included in the study (response rate: 93.5%), and 1,613 subjects were interviewed. Seven hundred and eighteen women out of 1,613 participants reported at least one health symptom (44.5%), and of these, only 208 (29.1%) reported utilization of health services for these symptoms. The mean age of those 208 participants was 36.8 (±14.1) years, with a range from 15 to 77. Most were illiterate (56.7%); 79.8% were covered by social insurance; 66.4% were married (legal and religious marriage); and only 3.4% worked outside the home. Those who utilized health services for their health symptoms within the previous 15 days were more likely to be highly educated, to be covered with a social insurance for health expenses, to have a chronic disease, and to use health services for check-ups. Other factors such as economic conditions and type of the disease, etc. might have influenced health service utilization. Future studies in larger populations are recommended for further analysis (logistic regression modeling) in the same region.