[EQ] Hospitalization Disparities by Socio-Economic Status for Males and Females - CIHI Canada

Hospitalization Disparities by Socio-Economic Status for Males and Females

The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) October 2010

Available online at: http://bit.ly/bidVlk

“…..Research, including previous CPHI analyses (Reducing Gaps in Health report, 2008), has demonstrated consistently higher hospitalization rates for people from lower socio-economic areas. New analyses presented in this report expand on those findings by examining the size and cost of disparities in hospitalization rates between socio-economic status groups across Canada's 33 largest cities. Since research has shown the relationship between socio-economic status and health to differ by sex, results are presented separately for males and females.

 The foci of the analysis are ambulatory care sensitive conditions and mental illness - conditions for which hospitalization could potentially be avoided with adequate primary health care.

This analysis examines disparities in hospitalization rates across socio-economic groups for Canada’s census metropolitan areas.

The analysis builds on previous research that has illustrated hospitalization disparities by socio-economic status in Canada—lower socio-economic groups have consistently higher hospitalization rates.1–8 Canadian research also suggests that the relationship between socio-economic status and health differs by sex.9, 10

Research shows there is variability in hospitalization rates that may be the result of differences in access to primary health care, including physician supply.11–13

This analysis focuses on ambulatory care sensitive conditions and mental health, as these are conditions for which hospitalization could potentially be avoided with adequate primary health care.14, 15

This analysis addresses the following research questions: Are there disparities in hospitalization rates across socio-economic groups for both males and females? Do the magnitude and cost of these disparities differ by sex?

 

Key Findings

Hospitalization disparities across socio-economic groups exist for both sexes for ambulatory care sensitive conditions and mental illness, and they are consistently observed across census metropolitan areas in Canada.

• The magnitude of disparities is generally higher for males than females when measured by excess hospitalization rates.i

• For both sexes, excess rates associated with socio-economic status account for an estimated 33% to 40% of hospitalization rates.

 

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