DAYTON — A new study from The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center reveals a significant number of people are not utilizing regular primary care, potentially leading to missed screenings and delayed diagnoses.
The research found that one in seven people over the age of 18 do not have a primary care doctor. Additionally, one in three individuals have not undergone a check-up in the past year.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
TRENDING STORIES:
- 18-year-old high school senior found dead in Ohio pond, fire officials say
- ‘They came here to work;’ Haitian immigrants fear uncertainty as TPS expires
- State Troopers investigating after man found shot, killed near rural home
The findings suggest that for many, the “front door” to the health care system is being overlooked. Dr. Zachary Bittinger, an assistant professor at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, indicates that several factors contribute to this trend.
Dr. Bittinger noted several reasons people neglect primary care. These include young people not seeing the need for a doctor, concerns about health care costs, and individuals feeling overwhelmed by numerous existing medical appointments and medications.
“Whether we talk about young people and assuming that they’re, well, not seeing the need for a primary doctor or the costs of health care. And so fears that even if we see our primary doctor for a preventative visit, it could incur some bill that we don’t expect. Or maybe we just get inundated. We might have so many doctor’s visits, we might take so many medicines that a truly preventative visit might just slip past,” Bittinger said.
Bittinger emphasized the need for more effort to encourage primary care, particularly among younger generations. While screenings for breast and colon cancer are typically recommended later in life, pap smears are vital for early detection of other cancers, and a primary doctor plays a crucial role in managing these.
“Those preventative options, because they come while we’re young, they kind of come every so often, every couple of years. It’s easy to lose track of them, but they’re so important. And so having a doctor that knows the timing of such things that can before forward, even before you have to have them, is a very powerful thing,” Bittinger said.
In contrast to the broader trend, the study also indicated that adults 65 and older are largely maintaining regular contact with their primary care physicians.
[SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
