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Biomedical subjects

J L Spaeth

Publications and source records attributed to J L Spaeth.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Symptoms, social stratification and self-responsibility for health in the United States and West Germany.

This study compares the responses of a sample of Americans in Illinois and West Germans in North-Rhine Westphalia on the basis of symptom perception, symptom experience, physician utilization and health-locus-of-control. The hypothesis that as socioeconomic status increases, the more likely the individual is to manifest and behavior favorable toward self-control and acceptance of personal responsibility in health care matters was tested. The hypothesis was supported by the American data, but not the West German. Possible trends in West German society accounting for a significant lack of socioeconomic variance in illness behavior are discussed.

Female

Predicting physician utilization.

Previous research on physician utilization has shown that variables found significant in many traditional social psychologic studies (process models) often lack predictive strength if utilized in multivariate research (prediction models). To address this problem, a variable was created that measures both the presence of symptoms and the person's own evaluation of the necessity for medical care for the symptoms experienced. This variable is a relatively strong predictor of physician utilization. Analysis of findings suggests that future multivariate research on physician utilization consider a focus upon respondent evaluated symptoms (RES) and type of health care facility available.

Adolescent