AUTHOR=Garcia-Garzon Eduardo , Zhukovsky Peter , Haller Elisa , Plakolm Sara , Fink David , Petrova Dafina , Mahalingam Vaishali , Menezes Igor G. , Ruggeri Kai 

TITLE=Multilevel Modeling and Policy Development: Guidelines and Applications to Medical Travel

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=7

YEAR=2016

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00752

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00752

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=<p>Medical travel has expanded rapidly in recent years, resulting in new markets and increased access to medical care. Whereas several studies investigated the motives of individuals seeking healthcare abroad, the conventional analytical approach is limited by substantial caveats. Classical techniques as found in the literature cannot provide sufficient insight due to the nested nature of data generated. The application of adequate analytical techniques, specifically multilevel modeling, is scarce to non-existent in the context of medical travel. This study introduces the guidelines for application of multilevel techniques in public health research by presenting an application of multilevel modeling in analyzing the decision-making patterns of potential medical travelers. Benefits and potential limitations are discussed.</p>