Background: World population ageing is enduring, the proportion of older persons has been rising steadily, from 7 per cent in 1950 to 11 per cent in 2007, with an expected rise to reach 22 percent in 2050. Globally the population of older persons is growing at a rate of 2.6 per cent per year, considerably faster than the population as a whole which is increasing at 1.1 percent annually. The issue of health care-seeking (or medical-care) behaviour is crucial to all society.