Abstract
The objective of this paper is to analyse changes of the inpatients' hospital choice behaviour between 1973 and 1984 in Hiroshima Prefecture. Firstly, we summarize changes of population and medical resources occurred during this period. Secondly, numbers of inpatients per 1000 population are analysed by regression analysis. Numbers of inpatients 65 or older are affected not only by accessibility to hospital beds but also by types of their household characteristics in terms of availability of residential care. Thirdly, we identify hospital regions using the cluster analysis, and compare the regional break down of 1973 with that of 1984.
