Is the use of emergency departments socially patterned?

Hélène Colineaux (), Fanny Le Querrec, Laure Pourcel, Jean-Christophe Gallart, Olivier Azéma, Thierry Lang, Michelle Kelly-Irving, Sandrine Charpentier and Sébastien Lamy
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Hélène Colineaux: Toulouse University Hospital
Fanny Le Querrec: Regional Observatory of Emergency Medicine in the Midi-Pyrénées (ORU-MiP)
Laure Pourcel: Regional Observatory of Emergency Medicine in the Midi-Pyrénées (ORU-MiP)
Jean-Christophe Gallart: Regional Observatory of Emergency Medicine in the Midi-Pyrénées (ORU-MiP)
Olivier Azéma: Regional Observatory of Emergency Medicine in the Midi-Pyrénées (ORU-MiP)
Thierry Lang: Toulouse University Hospital
Michelle Kelly-Irving: INSERM-Université Toulouse III
Sandrine Charpentier: INSERM-Université Toulouse III
Sébastien Lamy: INSERM-Université Toulouse III

International Journal of Public Health, 2018, vol. 63, issue 3, No 11, 397-407

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: Primary access to care; Social inequalities in health; Emergency department; Administrative database (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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DOI: 10.1007/s00038-017-1073-3

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