Living Standards Measurements Study - Serbia 2002 - 2007

People living below the poverty line used dental
services three times less frequently. Those falling
into the lowest quintile used dental services nearly
four times less frequently than the richest. When they
did use dental services they were more slightly more
likely to use private institutions. (2 percent compared
to 1 percent). The Roma almost exclusively used
state dental services (3 percent for state compared to
0.4 percent for private) (Graph 5).
Graph 7.5. Use of health service by type of health
service (percent)
% population
Gender
Age
Type of
settlement
Poverty
line
Total
Male
Female
0 - 14
15 - 29
30 - 44
45 - 59
60+
Urban
Rural
Non poor
Poor
0 15 30 45 60
4
3
4
4
6
6
6
7
6
7
6
Poorest 6
2 7
3 6
4 6
Richest 6
Yes 6
No 4
Roma 4
Refugees &
IDPs 3
Unemployed 3
Outpatient health
care services
Quantiles of consalla
Insurance
9
12
15
15
18
22
21
21
22
27
26
25
25
28
28
28
28
28
27
28
32
32
Dentist health
care services
54
Hospital care
Hospital care . Hospital care was used by 6
percent of the population and it was done almost
exclusively in state health institutions in Serbia. The
results of the Study of Public Health in Serbia
(2006), also confirm these results (the percentage of
adult hospitalized population was also 6 percent),
and since it is slightly increased in comparison with
LSMS from 2003, it implies that the conditions of
use and requests for hospital treatment were
relatively unchanged in the observed years. Health
services in hospital institutions were most
frequently used by those aged over 60, which is
more than two times higher than the average for
Serbia. There were no differences in the use of
hospital treatment according to gender, type of
urban/other settlement and region. These services
were less frequently used by the population living
below the poverty line (4 percent) or by those from
one of the socially vulnerable groups (Roma, 4
percent, refugees and IDPs, 3 percent the
unemployed 3 percent) (Graph 5).
Over-the-counter use of drugs and alternative
medicine. Over-the-counter purchase and use of
drugs, vitamins and preparations with minerals,
medical consumables such as adhesive strips,
syringes, gauze, etc, and the use of alternative
medicine (acupuncture, chiropractor’ services) was
recorded in 23 percent of the population in the month
before the survey. Women are more likely to buy
over-the-counter drugs and alternative medicine than
men (27 percent and 19 percent respectively), people
older than 45 years use them more than those
younger than 45, the urban population more than the
non urban (26 percent and 19 percent respectively),
as well as residents of Belgrade and Vojvodina, and
most frequently those from the richest quintile (33
percent). These drugs and services were significantly
less used by the population living below the poverty
line (11 percent) and uninsured people (19 percent).
7.6. Non-use of Health Care Services
Among the most significant indicators of
health care deprivation are the reasons for nonutilization
of health care services among the ill
population. In 2007, the majority of ill people
considered that there was no need to use health care
services (56 percent). Secondly they reported that
they had minor health problems which they were
able to solve themselves (26 percent). The third
mostly quoted reason was that they did not have
money for health care services. This reason was
88 Living Standards Measurements Study - Serbia 2002 - 2007