Richest and poorest people in Toronto hospitalized for different reasons

June 4, 2012 in Health

Researchers who examined the income levels of patients at central Toronto hospitals found that people in the highest and lowest income brackets are being hospitalized for different reasons and that different hospitals serve different income groups.

More wealthy patients received same-day surgeries than low-income patients. In contrast, more low-income patients were hospitalized for , visited emergency departments for non-urgent issues and remained in beds while waiting to be transferred to more appropriate levels of care in the community such as nursing homes.

This report will enable many Toronto hospitals and health care stakeholders to see the socioeconomic profile of patients for the first time, said Dr. Rick Glazier, one of the lead authors of the study.

Once they have that information, they can see whether patient outcomes are linked to incomes, he said. This also gives them the opportunity to tailor care to the needs of their current patient population and to work with others to plan health services appropriate for the community.

"We want a universal that helps everyone be healthy, regardless of how much money they earn," said Dr. Glazier, a researcher at the Centre for Research on Inner City Health at St. Michael's and a senior scientist at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences. "But until we actually look at social differences among patients, it's impossible to say if hospital care is equitable or if hospitals have the proper resources to respond to the patients they serve."

Dr. Glazier said the statistics point to the social causes of disease and strains on the health system.

"Very low-income people are using the parts of the system that are in greatest crisis," he said. "It's all the more reason to think broadly about what keeps people healthy in the first place. What health supports do wealthy groups enjoy that those with lower incomes lack? Access to , the ability to pay for healthy foods and medicines and to live in a healthy place where you can receive home care if you need it? We think that addressing upstream areas like these will likely make an impact on hospital use."

The researchers examined data on all patients admitted between 2008 and 2010 to 20 hospitals in the Toronto Central Local Health Integration Network.

They found hospitals fell into three categories: those, including St. Michael's, who treat high-income and low-income patients in the same numbers; those who treat mainly low-income patients; and those who treat mainly high-income patients. In all of the hospitals surveyed, middle-income patients were served the least.

Among their other findings:

  • In almost every hospital, surgical patients had higher incomes than medical patients
  • More wealthy patients than poor patients had day surgery.
  • More low-income patients than high-income patients were admitted for mental health services at almost every hospital
  • Patients designated as waiting for "alternate level of care," meaning they occupy an acute hospital bed but do not require the intensity of resources or services provided in that setting, were more likely to have low incomes than high incomes. In most of the hospitals, ALC patients had lower incomes than the hospital's overall patient population
  • Overall, more low-income patients visited emergency departments than high-income for non-urgent reasons

Provided by St. Michael's Hospital search and more info website

not rated yet  

Rank not rated yet
Relevant PhysicsForums posts

More news stories

Bed sharing with parents increases risk of cot death fivefold

Bed sharing with parents is linked to a fivefold increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), even when the parents are non-smokers and the mother has not been drinking alcohol and does not use illegal drugs, according ...

Health created 7 hours ago | popularity 1.3 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Sports seem OK for many with heart-zapping device

Doctors tell people with a heart-zapping device in their chests to give up intense sports like basketball and soccer in favor of golf or bowling. But lots of patients ignore that advice—and now new research is challenging ...

Health created 8 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Gym class reduces probability of obesity, study finds for first time

Little is known about the effect of physical education (PE) on child weight, but a new study from Cornell University finds that increasing the amount of time that elementary schoolchildren spent in gym class reduces the probability ...

Health created 10 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Prenatal exposure to traffic is associated with respiratory infection in young children

Living near a major roadway during the prenatal period is associated with an increased risk of respiratory infection developing in children by the age of 3, according to a new study from researchers in Boston.

Health created 12 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Combined wood and tobacco smoke exposure increases risk and symptoms of COPD

People who are consistently exposed to both wood smoke and tobacco smoke are at a greater risk for developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and for experiencing more frequent and severe symptoms of the disease, ...

Health created 12 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0


Early-life traffic-related air pollution exposure linked to hyperactivity

Early-life exposure to traffic-related air pollution was significantly associated with higher hyperactivity scores at age 7, according to new research from the University of Cincinnati (UC) and Cincinnati Children's Hospital ...

New immune system discovered

(Medical Xpress)—A research team, led by Jeremy Barr, a biology post-doctoral fellow, unveils a new immune system that protects humans and animals from infection.

Resistance to last-line antibiotic makes bacteria resistant to immune system

Bacteria resistant to the antibiotic colistin are also commonly resistant to antimicrobial substances made by the human body, according to a study in mBio, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microb ...

The compound in the Mediterranean diet that makes cancer cells 'mortal'

New research suggests that a compound abundant in the Mediterranean diet takes away cancer cells' "superpower" to escape death. By altering a very specific step in gene regulation, this compound essentially re-educates cancer ...

Scientists identify molecular trigger for Alzheimer's disease

Researchers have pinpointed a catalytic trigger for the onset of Alzheimer's disease – when the fundamental structure of a protein molecule changes to cause a chain reaction that leads to the death of neurons ...

Do salamanders hold the solution to regeneration?

Salamanders' immune systems are key to their remarkable ability to regrow limbs, and could also underpin their ability to regenerate spinal cords, brain tissue and even parts of their hearts, scientists have ...