Factors Associated with Access to Hydrotherapy Clinic Services of Service Recipients at the Hydrotherapy Center, Surat Thani Municipality

Abstract

The Hydrotherapy Center of Surat Thani Municipality is a local government health service unit that charges service fees and currently experiences low levels of service access. This cross-sectional survey research aimed to investigate the relationship between predisposing factors, enabling factors, and health need factors with the level of access to hydrotherapy clinic services among recipients in Surat Thani Province.

Data were collected from a sample of 177 participants using a questionnaire with an Index of Item-Objective Congruence (IOC) ranging from 0.67 to 1.00 and a reliability coefficient of 0.938. Data were analyzed using multiple logistic regression.

The findings revealed that predisposing factors regarding health beliefs and attitudes, enabling factors, and health need factors were overall at high levels. However, the level of service access was predominantly low (≤ 4 times per month), accounting for 58.2%. Factors significantly associated with service access at the 0.05 level were social predisposing factors, specifically marital status and income, and enabling factors related to service costs, particularly reimbursement rights.

Implications: Surat Thani Municipality and relevant agencies should utilize these findings to develop financial support measures or fee-subsidy schemes for low-income groups to mitigate financial barriers. Furthermore, service delivery models should be enhanced to increase flexibility, catering to the needs of individuals with time constraints. These results also serve as essential evidence for advocating the integration of hydrotherapy services into the national health insurance benefits package to ensure equitable and sustainable access to care.