P Moorer1, T H Suurmeijer, C P Zwanikken. 1. Northern Centre of Health Care Research (NCH), Department of Medical Sociology, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
Abstract
PURPOSE: For chronically ill persons it is assumed that they make heavy demands on health care services. In the literature one hardly finds any publications to substantiate or refute this assumption. The main purpose of our study is to describe the health care utilization of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) in the Netherlands and its relationships with severity and duration of the disease. METHODS: Two different samples of persons with MS were used. In the first sample (University Hospital Groningen) severity of MS was based on medical judgement, while in the second sample (Dutch Multiple Sclerosis Society) severity was self-reported. In both samples, use of health care facilities was assessed with a mail questionnaire. RESULTS: The methods for determining severity resulted in different distributions for severity of MS. However, the results were quite similar with respect to health care utilization. It appeared that the severity of MS was related to the number of professional caretakers MS-patients had contact with during one year. Duration of MS seemed not to be related to the number of caretakers. Only for specific caretakers, most notably GP, physiotherapist, home help and ergotherapist, the contact frequency increased with severity of MS. No such relationship was found between the frequency of contact with the neurologist and severity of MS. CONCLUSIONS: People with MS do not make a heavy demand on health care facilities in general but only on certain health care provisions. This is in contrast with the general notion that all chronically ill make a heavy demand on health care facilities in general.
PURPOSE: For chronically ill persons it is assumed that they make heavy demands on health care services. In the literature one hardly finds any publications to substantiate or refute this assumption. The main purpose of our study is to describe the health care utilization of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) in the Netherlands and its relationships with severity and duration of the disease. METHODS: Two different samples of persons with MS were used. In the first sample (University Hospital Groningen) severity of MS was based on medical judgement, while in the second sample (Dutch Multiple Sclerosis Society) severity was self-reported. In both samples, use of health care facilities was assessed with a mail questionnaire. RESULTS: The methods for determining severity resulted in different distributions for severity of MS. However, the results were quite similar with respect to health care utilization. It appeared that the severity of MS was related to the number of professional caretakers MS-patients had contact with during one year. Duration of MS seemed not to be related to the number of caretakers. Only for specific caretakers, most notably GP, physiotherapist, home help and ergotherapist, the contact frequency increased with severity of MS. No such relationship was found between the frequency of contact with the neurologist and severity of MS. CONCLUSIONS:People with MS do not make a heavy demand on health care facilities in general but only on certain health care provisions. This is in contrast with the general notion that all chronically ill make a heavy demand on health care facilities in general.
Authors: Kamila Rasova; Jenny Freeman; Patricia Martinkova; Marketa Pavlikova; Davide Cattaneo; Johanna Jonsdottir; Thomas Henze; Ilse Baert; Paul Van Asch; Carme Santoyo; Tori Smedal; Antonie Giæver Beiske; Małgorzata Stachowiak; Mariusz Kovalewski; Una Nedeljkovic; Daphne Bakalidou; José Manuel Alves Guerreiro; Ylva Nilsagård; Erieta Nikolikj Dimitrova; Mario Habek; Kadriye Armutlu; Cécile Donzé; Elaine Ross; Ana Maria Ilie; Andrej Martić; Anders Romberg; Peter Feys Journal: BMC Health Serv Res Date: 2016-10-06 Impact factor: 2.655