Is the use of emergency departments socially patterned?
Int J Public Health
; 63(3): 397-407, 2018 Apr.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-29332173
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
To analyse the association between patients' socioeconomic position (SEP) and the use of emergency departments (EDs).METHODS:
This population-based study included all visits to ED in 2012 by inhabitants of the French Midi-Pyrénées region, recorded by the Regional Emergency Departments Observatory. We compared ED visit rates and the proportion of non-severe visits according to the patients' SEP as assessed by the European Deprivation Index.RESULTS:
We analysed 496,388 visits. The annual ED visit rate increased with deprivation level 165.9 [95% CI (164.8-166.9)] visits per 1000 inhabitants among the most advantaged group, compared to 321.9 [95% CI (320.3-323.5)] per 1000 among the most disadvantaged. However, the proportion of non-severe visits was about 14% of the visits, and this proportion did not differ according to SEP.CONCLUSIONS:
Although the study shows a difference of ED visit rates, the probability of a visit being non-severe is not meaningfully different according to SEP. This supports the assumption that ED visit rate variations according to SEP are mainly explained by SEP-related differences in health states rather than SEP-related differences in health behaviours.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Bases de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Fatores Socioeconômicos
/
Serviço Hospitalar de Emergência
Tipo de estudo:
Observational_studies
Limite:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
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Male
/
Middle aged
País/Região como assunto:
America do norte
/
Europa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Int J Public Health
Assunto da revista:
SAUDE PUBLICA
Ano de publicação:
2018
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
França