Is general practitioner decision making associated with patient socio-economic status?

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Clinical Decision-Making
• Health Equity

Background:

• Extensive research links socio-economic status (SES) to health outcomes and service use.
• Limited studies explore the impact of patient SES on clinical decisions within the healthcare system.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between general practitioners' (GPs) decisions and patients' socio-economic status (SES).
• To analyze how SES, health status, gender, and insurance influence GP decisions regarding patient follow-up, prescriptions, and diagnostic testing.

Main Methods:

• Utilized logit analysis to examine three binary choices: follow-up, prescription, and diagnostic testing.
• Employed secondary data from general practice consultations for check-ups and examinations.

Main Results:

• Socio-economic status (SES) independently influences decisions for diagnostic testing and prescribing, but not follow-up.
• Patients with higher SES are more likely to undergo diagnostic tests and less likely to receive prescriptions compared to lower SES patients.
• Female patients are more frequently tested and prescribed medication than male patients.

Conclusions:

• Clinical decision-making by GPs is associated with patient socio-economic status, potentially affecting health equity.
• Findings highlight disparities in diagnostic testing and prescribing patterns based on SES.
• The study underscores the need to consider SES in health policy to promote equitable healthcare services.