Objective: To assess elderly persons' consultations by third parties, examine the elderly, to know the characteristics of those who use it exclusively and to compare their utilization of health services with the utilization by other elderly users of Primary Care.
Design: Cross sectional study.
Patients: Data are from a stratified sample of the elderly.
Setting: Leganés.
Measurements and main results: Associations between sociodemographic and health variables with consultations by third parties are identified. Odds ratios are estimated with a logistic regression model fitted to the subsample of primary care users. Consultation by third parties is frequent among elderly in Leganés: 24.4% of them have used it in the last year; 4.2% exclusively and 20% in combination with other forms of general practitioner' consultations. Those consulting exclusively through third parties tend to have functional limitations, depression, and disabilities which keeps them apart from society. Family members are intermediary between elderly and General Practitioner.
Conclusion: Consultation by third parties can lead to diminished quality of care. People who are currently consulting through third parties could be eligible to social and health care programs.