Health care: an international comparison of perceived morbidity, health services resources, and use.

Selected summary findings from the World Health Organization/International Collaborative Study of Medical Care Utilization are presented, based on data collected during a twelve-month period in 1968-1969 in twelve study areas in seven countries in the Americas and Europe. A household interview survey of almost 48,000 persons, representing a total population of about 15 million, elicited information on demographic characteristics, on perceptions of illness, its severity and character, and on attitudes toward and use of major components of health services. Information was also collected on the prevailing health care systems and resources available to the study population, as well as on socioeconomic characteristics of the study areas.