[Hospital emergency service utilization by the population from a primary health center: level of suitability]

A descriptive study on hospital record corresponding to 379 patients over 14 years, from the Health Center of Rekaldeberri (Bilbao), who attended any of the hospital emergency services available in the province, during the last quarter of 1989 is presented. Objectives were to identify circumstances that motivated consultation, and its apropriateness. Data were recorded by family doctors. As much as 76% of them attended on one's own initiative being this proporcion larger among the youngest. The most frequent diagnosis was the one that corresponded to "Accidents, injuries, poisoning, and violence", 37.5% of the total. 20.8% of the patients were admitted to the hospital. We considered consultation to be apropriate 55.1% of the times, with larger percentages among those who were sent by family doctors (91.1%) and those advanced in years. Lastly data are compared to other studies and we make some considerations about primary health care's responsibility for massification of hospital emergency services.