Relationships of multimorbidity and income with hospital admissions in 3 health care systems

Wang, H. H.X. et al. (2015) Relationships of multimorbidity and income with hospital admissions in 3 health care systems. Annals of Family Medicine, 13(2), pp. 164-167. (doi: 10.1370/afm.1757) (PMID:25755038)

Abstract

Associations of multimorbidity and income with hospital admission were investigated in population samples from 3 widely differing health care systems: Scotland (n = 36,921), China (n = 162,464), and Hong Kong (n = 29,187). Multimorbidity increased odds of admissions in all 3 settings. In Scotland, poorer people were more likely to be admitted (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.62; 95% CI, 1.41–1.86 for the lowest income group vs the highest), whereas China showed the opposite (aOR = 0.58; 95% CI, 0.56–0.60). In Hong Kong, poorer people were more likely to be admitted to public hospitals (aOR = 1.68; 95% CI, 1.36–2.07), but less likely to be admitted to private ones (aOR = 0.18; 95% CI, 0.13–0.25). Strategies to improve equitable health care should consider the impact of socioeconomic deprivation on the use of health care resources, particularly among populations with prevalent multimorbidity.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Wang, Professor Haoxiang and Mercer, Professor Stewart
• Authors: Wang, H. H.X., Wang, J. J., Lawson, K. D., Wong, S. Y. S., Wong, M. C. S., Li, F. J., Wang, P. X., Zhou, Z. H., Zhu, C. Y., Yeong, Y. Q., Griffiths, S. M., and Mercer, S. W.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > General Practice and Primary Care
• Journal Name: Annals of Family Medicine
• Publisher: Annals of Family Medicine, Inc
• ISSN: 1544-1709
• ISSN (Online): 1544-1717