Attitudes and opinions on health and medical care - a case study of the rural population of the Eastern Townships (Quebec).

Abstract

This paper presents the relationship between concepts of attitude, perception of the availability of health care, scepticism toward medical care, scepticism toward medical practitioners, dependence resulting from illness and certain socioeconomic and demographic variables. The authors used the multiple classification analysis (M.C.A.) technique to put into operation these relationships. The findings show that age and income are, respectively, the best indicators of the perceptions of the availability of medical care and of the dependence resulting from illness. These findings corroborate the most recent research concerning the use of psychosocial factors to explain accessibility to medical care. The data used in this study come from an investigation during the summer of 1978 which involved 215 rural families from the Eastern Townships (Quebec).