Use of Primary Care Resources by Immigrants and the Autochthonous Persons Who Contact the Care Services in the City of Lleida,Spain

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate and compare the use of the different primary care (PC) services between immigrants and the indigenous population. DESIGN: Cross-sectional observation study of a population seen in (PC). SETTING: Patients seen by 15 PC doctors, in 5 basic health areas (BHA) in the city of Lleida, Spain, from March to August 2005. PARTICIPANTS: All immigrants (1,599 patients of immigrant origin) who seen during the study period were included. A random sample of 300 patients was taken from each of the 15 participating clinics (4,156 autochthonous patients). The autochthonous was considered as those whose country of origin is Spain and the immigrant population those who come from low and medium income countries, regardless of the time of residence in the BHA. PRIMARY MEASUREMENTS: Age, sex, type of visit made, and referrals made. Multinomial regression models were used to calculate the relative risk (RR) of having made visits. RESULTS: Immigrants have a higher probability to make 3 visits than the indigenous population, who would make 1 or 2 visits (RR, 1.23; 95% confidence interval, 1.04-1.91). The estimation of the RR of having made visits is higher in the immigrants for all categories, except nursing. CONCLUSIONS: Immigrants who come into contact with PC, make more frequent visits to the family doctor and gynaecology, and also have more complementary tests done. However, the frequency of use of the immigrant group for nursing visits seems to be less