[Hospital emergencies in the catchment area of León. A study of the repercussions of primary care].

The filter role of primary health care on the attendance to hospital emergency services was evaluated in view of the saturation of the latter. It was demonstrated that those patients who had not previously attended primary care services (40.3%) had a higher rate of problems for which emergency attention was considered unjustified (51.64%), with the consequent performance deterioration. In the group of patients who were referred to the hospital by a physician, the highest rates of examination of the patient, degree of justification for care, and diagnostic agreement with our center were found among the youngest physicians. As a whole, the filter role of primary care in our area is clearly higher than that from other similar studies, although optimal levels have not yet been achieved.