Primary Care Utilization Patterns Among Immigrants in Spain
Author Information
Author(s): Calderón-Larrañaga Amaia, Gimeno-Feliu Luis A, Macipe-Costa Rosa, Poblador-Plou Beatriz, Bordonaba-Bosque Daniel, Prados-Torres Alexandra
Primary Institution: Instituto Aragonés de Ciencias de la Salud (I+CS), Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Aragón (IIS Aragón), Zaragoza, Spain
Hypothesis
Do immigrants use primary care services less than the native population when accounting for morbidity burden?
Conclusion
Immigrants use primary care services less than natives, but this difference decreases significantly when considering their morbidity burden.
Supporting Evidence
- Immigrants had lower mean annual consultations compared to natives.
- After adjusting for morbidity burden, the difference in consultations decreased significantly.
- Immigrant children had higher usage of routine diagnostic tests.
- Immigrant adults showed higher usage of emergency services.
Takeaway
Immigrants in Spain visit the doctor less often than locals, but when you consider their health issues, the gap gets smaller.
Methodology
This retrospective, observational study analyzed data from electronic medical records of 69,067 individuals assigned to three urban primary care centers.
Potential Biases
Potential overestimation of service use due to irregular immigrants not seeking health cards.
Limitations
The study lacked socioeconomic indicators and did not stratify the immigrant population by country of origin.
Participant Demographics
26.2% of children and 17.9% of adults in the study were immigrants, with a majority from Latin America and Eastern Europe.
Statistical Information
P-Value
p<0.05
Confidence Interval
(0.72 - 0.75)
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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