Relation of rates of self referral to A&E departments to deprivation

BMJ 1998;317:538 ( 22 August )

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Relation of rates of self referral to A&E departments to deprivation

Robust markers are needed of variations in case mix among practices

Distance from department and deprivation are both important in explaining variations in rates

Robust markers are needed of variations in case mix among practices

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR $---$ Carlisle et al report an association between markers of social deprivation derived from the 1991 census and out ofhours contacts with both general practice services and accidentand emergency departments.¹

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We undertook a related study in east London, based on 63 000 attendances by adults at accident and emergency departments.²This showed that factors related to social deprivation accountedfor 48% of the variation in total adult attendance rates betweenpractices. This was so even in an area of consistently high deprivationwhere the practices' underprivileged area (Jarman) scores rangedfrom 30.4 to 62.1 (median value 42.5). In contrast to Carlisleet al, we included in the multivariate analysis explanatory variablesrelating to practice size and resources, since organisationalfactors are often cited as causes of high use of accident andemergency departments among inner city populations.³ We foundthat practice characteristics (partnership size, female partner,practice manager, nurse, training status, . . . [Full text of this article]

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Relation of out of hours activity by general practice and accident and emergency services with deprivation in Nottingham: longitudinal survey: Robin Carlisle, Lindsay M Groom, Anthony J Avery, Daphne Boot, and Stephen Earwicker
BMJ 1998 316: 520-523. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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Beattie, T F, Gorman, D R, Walker, J J (2001). The association between deprivation levels, attendance rate and triage category of children attending a children's accident and emergency department. Emerg. Med. J. 18: 110-111 [Abstract] [Full text]