Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 19, 2026
09:51
The Transition to an Anterior-Based Muscle Sparing Approach Improves Early Postoperative Function but is Associated with a Learning Curve
Published on: September 7, 2022
Socioeconomic differences in waiting times for elective surgery: a population-based retrospective study
Alessio Petrelli1, Giuliana De Luca, Tania Landriscina
1Epidemiology and Public Health Unit, Piedmont Region, Turin, Italy. alessio.petrelli@epi.piemonte.it
BMC Health Services Research
|August 23, 2012
Summary
Patients with lower educational levels experience longer waiting times for elective surgery, indicating healthcare access inequalities in Italy. This disparity is particularly evident for procedures like endarterectomy and hip replacement.
Area of Science:
- Health Services Research
- Socioeconomic Determinants of Health
- Health Policy Analysis
Background:
- Existing literature highlights healthcare access and utilization inequities.
- Research on socioeconomic disparities in surgical waiting times remains limited and debated.
- This study addresses the gap by examining socioeconomic status and elective surgery wait times.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the relationship between individual socioeconomic status and waiting times for in-hospital elective surgery.
- To investigate potential socioeconomic gradients in access to essential surgical procedures.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of waiting times for six key surgical procedures (2006-2008) using the Piedmont Region Hospital Discharge Database.
- Application of Cox regression models to assess the association between educational level and waiting times.
- Control for confounding factors including sex, age, comorbidity, registration period, and Local Health Authorities (LHA).
Main Results:
- Individuals with lower educational levels faced longer median waiting times for all analyzed procedures compared to those with higher education.
- Significant disparities were observed for endarterectomy and hip replacement.
- An inverse gradient was found: lower to middle education levels correlated with lower adjusted probabilities of undergoing surgery, except for Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG).
Conclusions:
- The study provides evidence of socioeconomic inequalities in access to elective surgery within the Italian healthcare system.
- Findings underscore the need for policies to enhance information dissemination and ensure equitable access for low socioeconomic status populations.
- Targeted interventions are recommended to mitigate disparities in surgical wait times.
