Use of health services in a rural community.

THE STUDY of the distribution and pattern of health care delivery, utilization, and the evaluation of its effectiveness in meeting the health care needs of a community are among the accepted principles of epidemiology (1). The methods of achieving this objective have been described by other investigators (2,3). Despite the recognition of the potential value of epidemiology as a research tool applicable to health care services, its use seems to have been infrequent. In this report, the nature, distribution, and variation of health care services utilization are described according to certain characteristics of a specific population. Although the data are from Yolo County, Calif., and their use should be confined to the geographic boundaries of this county, the methods used and perhaps the findings could be applicable to similar communities.