ZEMSTVO MEDICINE AND HEALTH CARE SEEKING IN THE LATE 19TH CENTURY

Abstract

The paper deals with the development of zemstvo medicine in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, focusing on health care seeking. Within a broader research optics, this phenomenon is a key element in the formation of human capital and standard of living. In this paper, it is considered as the indicator of interaction between medical institu-tions and the population. The study reveals significant disparities in health care seeking behavior among counties in general and among counties within one province. The division of health care seeking into inpatient and outpatient sectors demonstrates distinct patterns of distribution for these types of medical care. Regression analysis demon-strates that infrastructural conditions and organizational factors of healthcare largely explain the distribution of inpatient services. However, a similar trend is not observed in the outpatient sector, indicating the likely influence of fac-tors of a different nature, such as sociocultural and socioeconomic factors. Furthermore, the study shows the insignif-icant influence of the factors of payment for medical care and the area of medical offices on the intensity of health care seeking in both the inpatient and outpatient sectors. These findings highlight the need for a more detailed study.