Centre for Policy on Ageing



Age, deprivation and rates of inguinal hernia surgery in men — is there inequity of access to healthcare?
Author(s)	D Gwyn Seymour, Paul H Garthwaite
Journal title	Age and Ageing, vol 28, no 5, September 1999
Pages	pp 485-490
Keywords	Admission [hospitals] ; Surgery ; Older men ; Economic status [elderly] ; Poor elderly ; Age groups [elderly] ; Scotland.
Annotation	Graphical analysis of hospital discharge data for men undergoing inguinal hernia surgery in Scotland in 1982-84, 1987-89 and 1992-94, guided by three hypotheses on urgency of surgery, age differences, and evidence of discordance between population prevalence of disease and rates of surgery were used in this study. Over the study period, there has been: a marked increase in the rate of elective hernia operations in the over 65s; a stable rate of non-elective operations in all age groups; a lower rate of elective surgery in patients from deprived areas than in patients from affluent areas. During the period studied, there has been decreasing inequity on the grounds of age, but persisting inequity on the grounds of deprivation. While these techniques cannot provide definitive answers about inequity of access, they can raise important questions, and might contribute to equity audit in patients of all ages. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-991021213 A
Classmark	LD:QKH: LKA: BC: F:W: F:W6: BB: 9A
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing

...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.