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Predictors of children's health system use: cross-sectional study of linked data

Rebecca Perrin1, Sanjay Patel2, Amanda Lees3

  • 1School of Primary Care, Population Science and Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton, UK.

Family Practice
|July 8, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Socio-economic deprivation is linked to higher use of general practice (GP) and emergency department (ED) services in young children. Interventions supporting families could improve children's health management.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Health Services Research
  • Social Determinants of Health
  • Healthcare Utilization Studies

Background:

  • Increasing health service use globally necessitates research into its drivers.
  • Existing research on health service use primarily focuses on adults and secondary care.
  • Factors influencing emergency department (ED) and general practice (GP) utilization in young children remain under-explored.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate factors associated with general practice (GP) consultations and emergency department (ED) attendances in children under five years old.
  • To identify socio-demographic determinants of high healthcare service use in early childhood.
  • To analyze patterns of primary and emergency care use in a UK pediatric population.

Main Methods:

  • Cross-sectional study utilizing anonymized health service data for children aged 0-4.
  • Inclusion of data from 21 general practices (GPs) and linked emergency department (ED) records over one year.
  • Application of univariate and multivariable logistic regression to assess associations between socio-economic status (Index of Multiple Deprivation - IMD) and high service use (defined as >8 GP visits and/or >2 ED attendances).

Main Results:

  • A total of 11,062 children experienced 76,092 GP consultations and 6,107 ED attendances.
  • High users comprised 29% of children for GP services and 5% for ED services.
  • Increased socio-economic deprivation was independently associated with higher GP and ED service use, with odds ratios of 1.45 and 2.21 respectively for the most deprived quintile compared to the least.

Conclusions:

  • Young children are significant users of primary and emergency healthcare services.
  • Socio-economic deprivation is a key factor associated with healthcare service utilization in children under five.
  • Findings suggest a need for targeted interventions to support families in managing children's health, potentially reducing reliance on GP and ED services.
Abstract

Keywords:
Childrencross-sectional studyemergency departmentgeneral practicehealth servicessocio-economic factors

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