Pinaripad National High School

”Your Child’s Future is our Paramount Concern.”

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“SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS AND EDUCATION OF PATIENTS IN RURAL

HEALTH UNIT IN MUNICIPALITY OF AGLIPAY TOWARDS MEDICATION”

An Undergraduate Thesis
Presented to
the Faculty of the Pinaripad National High School
Aglipay, Quirino

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for Inquiry, Investigation and Immersion

by

CAFIRMA, PRINCESS NAZARENE JOY P.

BAGBAGUEN, JOAN BAGBAGUEN A.

2019
 Pinaripad National High School
”Your Child’s Future is our Paramount Concern.”
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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION
Majority of researchers agree that income, education and occupation together best

represent SES (Socioeconomic Status). Wealth is also considered a determinant of SES, which is

a set of economic reserves or assets, presents a source of security providing a measure of a

household's ability to meet emergencies, absorb economic shocks, or provide the means to live

comfortably. Wealth reflects intergenerational transitions as well as accumulation of income and

savings.

There is evidence that SES affects individual’s health outcomes and the health care they

receive. People of lower SES are more likely to have self-reported health, lower life expectancy,

and suffer from more diseases when compared with those of higher SES. They also receive fewer

diagnostic tests and medications for many diseases and have limited access to health care due to

cost and coverage.

Compared with other patients, physicians are less likely to perceive low SES patients as

intelligent, independent, responsible, or rational and believe that they are less likely to comply

with medical advice and return for follow-up visits. These physician perceptions have been

shown to impact physicians’ clinical decisions. Physicians delay diagnostic testing, prescribe

more generic medications, and avoid referral to specialty care for their patients of low SES

versus other patients. Some physicians believe that tailoring care options to a patient’s
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socioeconomic circumstances can improve patient compliance and thereby improve health

outcomes.

However, other studies have shown that physicians believe that the financial and

coverage restrictions faced by low SES patients limit access to care and results in worse health

outcomes for these patients.

While this body of work has improved our understanding of the impact of SES and

education on physicians’ perceptions and practices, there has been little investigation into the

perceptions of low SES patients regarding how their SES affects the care they receive. Many

studies have shown that individuals of lower SES tend to be less satisfied with their care and face

substantial barriers including lack of insurance coverage and unaffordable costs. Few studies

have investigated whether patients of low SES are aware of the attitudes and practices physicians

have been shown to have when caring for low SES patients, and how such perceptions affect the

way low SES patients interact with the health care system and their providers. The purpose of

this study was to determine if and how individuals of lower SES perceive their care is affected

by SES and Education.

Conceptual Framework of the Study

This study focuses on how socio-economic status and education effect medication

of patients.

INDEPENDENT DEPENDENT
VARIABLE VARIABLE
Socioeconomic status of Medication
patients in RHU Medical history
Age
Sex
Employment
income
Education
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Research Paradigm

The figure shows the how socioeconomic status and education of patients in RHU of

Municipality of Aglipay affects medication. Moreover, this paradigm shows the relationship of

the variables.

Statement of the Problem

Generally, this study aims to find out the relationship among the Socioeconomic and

Education of patients of RHU toward medication.

Specifically, this study seeks to answer the following questions:

1. What are the profiles of the respondents?

A. Age

B. Sex

C. Status

D. Education Level

E. Employment

F. Income

G. Medical history

2. Is there a significant difference of socioeconomic status of patients in RHU towards

medication?
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3. Is there a significant difference of education status of patients in RHU towards

medication?

Hypotheses of the Study

This study will be done in view of the following hypothesis:

1. The Socioeconomic contrast according to age, sex, status, education level,

employment, income and medical history.

2. There is no significant difference of socioeconomic status of patients in RHU towards

preference of medication.

3. There is no significant difference of education status of patients in RHU towards

preference of medication.

Significance of the Study

The result of this research study will be an immense help not only to the researcher but

also those who are involved in medical sphere and also to develop and test a new Scale to

measure SES.

Future Researchers. The findings of this study may provide extensive information on

how

Socioeconomic status and education of patients in RHU affects their preferences towards

medication that may contribute to their future study.

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Scope and Delimitation of the Study

The study focuses on the socioeconomic status and education of patients in RHU towards

medication. This study also bounds to measure the socioeconomic status and education of

patients. It aims to assess if there is a relationship between the variables in the study.

This study will be conducted to the patients of Rural Health Unit of San Leonardo,

Aglipay Quirino.

There will be thirty (30) patient respondents from the RHU. The socioeconomic status of

patients will be measured through a constructed and validated scale test. The Socioeconomic

status Scale and Likert Test should be administered within the month of March to make the

respondents valid.

Definition of terms

For the purpose of the study, the following terms are defined conceptually and

operationally.

Socioeconomic status- SES affects overall human functioning, including our physical

and mental health. Low SES and its correlates, such as lower educational achievement, poverty

and poor health, ultimately affect our society. Inequities in health distribution, resource

distribution, and quality of life are increasing in the United States and globally. Society benefits

from an increased focus on the foundations of socioeconomic inequities and efforts to reduce the

deep gaps in socioeconomic status in the United States and abroad.

Income- money that is earned from work.

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Education level- status of reach in education

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Socio-Economic Status
One of the most important factors to consider for choosing career path is the socio-

economic status of family. Socioeconomic status (SES) is an economic and sociological

combined total measure of a person's work experience and of an individual's or family's

economic and social position in relation to others, based on income, education, and occupation

(National Center for Educational Statistics, 2008). SES status holds an essential decision making

for students in choosing their future career.

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CHAPTER 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter deals with the research procedure in this study. These are presented in the

following sections: 1) the research design; 2) the respondents of the study; 3) the data gathering

instrument; 5) the data gathering procedures; 6) the statistical tool; 7) the interpretation of the

study.

The Research Design

In this study, the researchers will engage descriptive-survey design. A scientific method

which involves observing and describing the behavior of a subject without influencing it in any

way. It establishes only associations between variables. To describe, explain or validate some

sort of hypothesis or objective when it comes to a specific group of people. The descriptive-

survey design will be used to determine if there is a significant relationship of socioeconomic

status and education of patients of municipality of Aglipay.

Participants of the Study

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The respondents of the study were the patients of Aglipay Rural Health Unit. A total of

thirty (30) which is the total population of the objective of the study. The sampling used in this

study is cluster random.

Setting of the Study

This research was conducted at Rural Health Unit located at the municipality of Aglipay,

Quirino. The Health Unit is headed by Jessie Paul M. Culang MD.

Research Instruments

In the study, the researchers used researcher-made questionnaire: Personal Data Sheet,

Socioeconomic Status Test, educational level and Likert Scale. These instruments were used by

the researchers to gather important and relevant data for the study that would answer all the

research questions.