OBJECTIVES: To explore the impact of individual and community social capital on the utilization of PHCS respectively, as well as the interactions between the two types of social capital on the dependent variable.

METHODS: The final sample included 3030 residents of 202 communities in Hangzhou, China during 2017. A face-to-face interview for each participant was conducted with a structured, pre-coded, and pre-tested questionnaire, including the proxy indicators of social capital, measured by Trust Scale score and community residents’ PHCS services utilization, measured by the question "How many times have you ever visited community health service institutions(CHISs) in 2017?”. A multi-level model was used to analyze the influences of individual social capital (ISC) and community social capital (CSC) on the utilization of PHCS. Four linear models of mixed effects were fitted and ISC variables, CSC variables and demographics variables were added one by one. All data were collected by SPSS 24.0 and analyzed by a logistic regression model.

RESULTS: Results indicated that in China both individual- and contextual-level social capital were associated with the PHCS utilization, and the utilization of PHCS varied according to different levels of social capital. Usually, high CSC would increase the number of visits to CHSIs and high ISC would decrease the number of visits to CHSIs. However, in communities with high social capital, high ISC would increase the number of visits to CHSIs. In demographics, age had no effect on the relationships between social capital and CHSIs.

CONCLUSIONS: In China, different levels of ISC and CSC affect the utilization of PHCS interactively. Stronger CSC will be beneficial to residents' utilization of primary healthcare services. A higher level of ISC may only play an active role in communities with higher social capital.