MEHE KODU ON MAAILM, NAISE MAAILM ON KODU? - Tartu Ülikool

TERVIS JA TÖÖVÕIME HEALTH AND CAPACITY FOR WORK
men visited the family physician on average 1.9 times, women 2.4 times. Meanwhile, those not
having visited the physician include people who were in need of family medical care, but did not
receive it due to various reasons. According to the social survey, 2% of men and the same share
of women did not receive necessary family medical care in 2009. Yet the reasons for not visiting
the family physician are quite different for men and women. The main reason for men lay in the
lack of health insurance (38%), while this reason accounted for only 8% of women. For women
the main reason for not having received family medical care was a too long waiting list (46%),
men stated this reason as the second most important one (23%). The second top reason for
women was a long distance to the medical aid centre and transportation problems to reach the
place – this was seen as a problem by 16% of women and only by 7% of men. (Figure 13)
Women also tend to more frequently visit specialised doctors and dentists. During the last year,
57% of women and 42% of men had visited the dentist. The proportion of women having visited a
specialised doctor was the same (57%), whereas the proportion of men was smaller – 39%.
5% of men and the same proportion of women did not gain access to the dentist when needed.
As dental care is a paid service, the main reason for not visiting the dentist is financial both for
men and women. 79% of men and 82% of women who did not gain access to the dentist
considered the service too expensive.
4% of men and 5% of women did not gain access to a specialised doctor. The main reason for
that is a too long waiting list – 50% of men and 70% of women considered this to be the most
important reason. The second reason for men is the lack of health insurance (16%), whereas the
same cause was mentioned by only 3% of women. The second reason for women was a long
distance to the medical aid centre and transportation problems to reach the place (14%). At the
same time, this reason was stated by 9% of men.
In case of women, marital status does not have significant impact on the frequency of visiting a
physician, but for men there are clearly visible differences. The frequency of visiting the family
physician by married men is higher in comparison with single men. Apparently, wives play a
significant role by encouraging their spouse to consult the physician as soon as some health
problem becomes evident. This can also be seen from the fact that the proportion of men using
family medical care is drastically lower in case of divorced men, reaching even a lower level than
that of single men.
These results clearly indicate the bottlenecks of our health care system such as expensive dental
care and long waiting lists to access specialised doctors. It also appears that men lack health
insurance more frequently than women.
Pursuant to the health behaviour survey, women use medicinal products much more frequently
than men. Among women, the most common reason for using medicine is headache.
Approximately a half of the women and only a quarter of men had used analgesics against
headache within the past seven days. About a quarter of women and one fifth of men used
medicinal products to alleviate other types of pain. Approximately one fifth of men and women
have been diagnosed with hypertensive diseases and the majority of them use relevant medicinal
products. About one fifth of both men and women suffer from arthritis and another one fifth from
radiculitis or back problems.
Smoking and alcohol consumption are important health behaviour indicators, as they noticeably
increase the risk of developing certain diseases. Smokers are at a much greater risk of
developing malignant neoplasm of larynx, trachea, bronchus and lung, and non-smokers are less
likely to do so.
According to the survey Health Behaviour among Estonian Adult Population conducted in
2010, there are 37% of men and 19% of women who smoke daily, i.e. there are twice as many
smokers among men. About a quarter of men and a little more than a half of women have never
smoked. In terms of education, the proportion of smokers is the highest among people with
primary or basic education – as much as about a half of men and 35% of women. The smallest
number of smokers is found among people with higher education – 18% of men and 11% of
women, respectively. As for men, the proportion of smoking men is higher in rural areas than in
MEHE KODU ON MAAILM, NAISE MAAILM ON KODU? MAN’S HOME IS THE WORLD, WOMAN’S WORLD IS HER HOME? 55