Medical treatment is care provided by a health professional to treat disease, injury or illness. The term is also used to describe any non-surgical procedure carried out by a doctor or GP (general practitioner) that does not involve cutting, such as endoscopy (stomach), cystoscopy (bladder) and bronchoscopy (airways of the lung). It may be provided in hospitals or community settings. All medical procedures have benefits, risks and possible side effects.
Many studies have examined barriers to health care utilization, but less research has been done on why people avoid seeking care, even when they suspect they should go. This article uses data from the 2008 Health Information National Trends Survey to provide a comprehensive description and conceptual categorization of reasons for avoiding medical treatment. The three overarching categories of reasons that emerged are low perceived need, traditional barriers and unfavorable evaluations.
The most commonly reported reason for avoiding medical treatment was a low perceived need to seek care. This category encompassed responses such as “I don’t think I have a disease” and “I don’t believe in going to doctors”. These reasons reflect the belief that it is more convenient to rely on self-care strategies, including taking over-the-counter medications and avoiding physical examinations.
Another common reason for avoiding medical treatment is a fear of being diagnosed with a serious disease or condition. This category of responses is a major obstacle to health care access. It may be the result of past negative experiences with medical procedures or an irrational perception that diseases and conditions are contagious. It may also be the result of a desire to avoid the social stigma associated with illness or a belief that it is better to live with pain and discomfort.
Other reasons for avoiding medical treatment included concerns about the quality of care or health professionals. This category of responses was relatively consistent across all subgroups and was most often cited by participants with negative attitudes towards health professionals. This included beliefs that health professionals are arrogant, uncaring or incompetent.
Other reasons for avoiding medical treatment included factors related to the cost of healthcare and personal finances. These included concerns about how expensive it is to get medical treatment and a fear that they will be financially burdened by the cost of care. This category also included a perception that health insurance plans do not cover all the costs of health care and that a person should be responsible for some of the cost of their own treatment. These perceptions are likely to be influenced by the perception that health insurance coverage is inadequate or that there is insufficient competition among providers. These factors should be addressed by ensuring that patients have adequate, affordable health insurance and that there are competitive markets for other forms of health care. Moreover, these perceptions should be examined in the context of wider structural issues that impact health care affordability and availability. Lastly, there were also several non-specific reasons for avoiding medical treatment, which did not fit into any of the other categories. These included: not liking or wanting to see a doctor, lack of available time, not having transportation and feeling that health care is too much of a hassle.