[Socio-demographic characteristics and health status of patients at a free-of-charge outpatient clinic in Paris]. / Analyse du profil socio-démographique et médical des patients de 5 permanences d'accès aux soins de santé (PASS) parisiennes.

PURPOSE: In the context of the French National Health Service, a free access to healthcare facilities (the PASS: "permanence d'accès aux soins de santé") has been implanted in 2000 for patients without health insurance or those dealing with financial hardship. There is few data about socio-demographic characteristics of the patients using these services. The objective of this study was to provide descriptive data about socio-demographic characteristics and motivation of those patients who use these clinics. METHODS: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted between April an May 2008, in 5 PASS clinics from academic tertiary hospitals in Paris. Descriptive data on patient were collected by general practitioners at the end of their consultations. RESULTS: This study included 581 patients. The mean age was 42 years, and 65% of patients were males. Only 50.9% declared a salary income and 38.5% had a health insurance. Half of the patients were homeless, and 80% were migrants. The main reasons to visit these health facilities were direct access (no appointment needed), being in financial difficulty and having a medical record in the same hospital. Half of the patients had one chronic disease at least, while only a third of them saw regularly a physician. A total of 834 diseases were found among the 581 patients, including 411 chronic diseases, and 17% of the patients had a psychologic or a psychiatric disorder. Prognosis was divided in three grades: good, low and poor. Almost a half of the patients were considered by the doctor as having a low or a poor prognosis if they would not receive a therapy. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study suggest that the PASS carry out their mission: most of the patients frequenting these facilities live under poor conditions and are in poor health status compared to the patients having access to conventional outpatient services.

[Health of immigrant population of consultants at the Baudelaire outpatient clinic in Saint-Antoine hospital in Paris, France]. / La santé des migrants consultant la policlinique Baudelaire de l'hôpital Saint-Antoine à Paris, France.

Social and health data on the immigrant population remain scarce in France, especially concerning those in irregular situation. The Baudelaire outpatient clinic in Saint- Antoine hospital in Paris (PASS, i.e. specific free medicosocial care for the poor, the uninsured or the undocumented patients) treats a majority of immigrants, a lot of them being in an irregular residence status. The objectives of this study were to describe the social and health status of the immigrant consultants, to compare regular and undocumented migrants and to describe their main reasons for migration. A cross-sectional, descriptive, survey among the immigrant consultants has been performed among this outpatient clinic in April and May 2009. In total, 536 patients were included. Their age mean was 45 years, 62% are male, 49% are in an irregular situation and they have been in France for 12 years in average (19 years for the regular immigrants and 5 years for the undocumented). More than 20% had no health insurance. A majority (55%) of patients were suffering from a chronic disease. The more frequent ones were hypertension (20%), type 2 diabetes (11.6%), chronic infectious diseases - HIV, HBV, HCV - (7%). Reasons for immigration were mostly economical (39%), family (19%) and political (17%). Health reasons were at the 4th rank and concerned 9% of the patients. The main chronic diseases observed among this population are similar to those of the general population of consultants in primary health care, except for the chronic infectious diseases, which are more frequent. Immigration for health reasons represents only a small proportion of all immigration reasons. For this population, free clinics like the one investigated here constitute unique, irreplaceable, access points in the French healthcare system.

Nosocomial infections and hospital mortality: a multicentre epidemiology study.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the number of deaths associated with nosocomial infections (NI) and the contribution of these NI to death. A multicentre descriptive study was conducted in 16 tertiary-care hospitals (14 222 beds) in Northern France. Medical records of consecutive patients who died at least 48 h after admission were reviewed for cause of death, NI and disease severity, before admission and before NI onset. The contribution of NI to death was assessed by agreement between two physicians according to a three-category scale of probability. Among the 1945 patients who died during the study, 26.6% had an NI. According to the agreed diagnosis, NI contributed to the deaths of 284 (14.6%) patients(certainly for 6.6% and possibly for 8%), thereby ranking NI as the fourth most frequent cause of death. Considering the deaths that had not been anticipated independently of NI two weeks before they occurred, NI definitely contributed to 2.8% of them. Lower respiratory tract, bloodstream and surgical wound infections were responsible for 39, 20 and 14%, respectively,of all NI in these patients. The impact of NI on in-hospital mortality seems to be lower than had previously been estimated in France based on US data from the 1970s and 1980s. To improve healthcare quality, further studies are needed to elucidate the processes that may contribute to fatal severe NI.