OBJECTIVES: Health resources utilization is related to health conditions and to the population's sociodemographic characteristics. Low socioeconomic groups show increased utilization of certain resources. Emergency department utilization could also be affected by socioeconomic factors. The aim of this study was to identify differences in emergency department utilization among different socioeconomic groups. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A population-based study was performed. Census sections of the city of Santander in Spain were grouped according to sociodemographic variables (age, educational and professional attinment). Areas of the city with similar socioeconomic characteristics were established by cluster analysis. The place of residence of patients visiting the emergency department of th Hospital Marqués de Valdecilla was identified and the utilization rate was calculated for each cluster. RESULTS: Cluster analysis was able to identify four different groups, each with different socioeconomic characteristics, which were closely related to the districts of Santander. Comparison of clusters 1 and 4 showed that increased emergency department utilization was found amongst groups with lowest socioeconomic status and higher mean age, with an odds ratio of 1.91 (95% CI: 1.73-2.1). Patients from higher socioeconomic groups were more likely to be admitted to hospital while those from lower socioeconomic groups made more repeat visits to the emergency department. CONCLUSION: Emergency department utilization is affected by the sociodemographic characteristics of patients' area of residence. Patients with lower socioeconomic status show greater use of the emergency department.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The publication speed of information in bibliographic chemical databases.

The quality of bibliographic databases depends very much on the reliably fast follow-up of the pertinent literature. We have studied this quality feature of two important chemical bibliographic databases: Chemical Abstracts (CA) and Analytical Abstracts (AA). The follow-up rate (speed of information) of these databases has been determined with respect to 10 core journals in analytical chemistry. On the average the performance of Chemical Abstracts has been good over the past decade, while the formerly poor performance of Analytical Abstracts has improved considerably. Some quite unexpected nonuniformities can, however, still be detected in the publication time distributions of both databases.

Journal Article↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Publication speed in analytical chemistry journals.

Variations of the time elapsing between submission or acceptance and publication ("lapse time") of papers have been studied for 10 major analytical chemistry journals, for the 1985-1999 period. The time from receipt of all manuscripts up to their publication and the period between their acceptance and their publication were analyzed in four selected years: 1985, 1990, 1995, and 1999. The majority of the investigated journals showed good average performance with sometimes disturbing fluctuations. Talanta has not been able to catch up with the rest, while the Analyst has recently become clear leader in publication speed.

Journal Article↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Parents' health, health care utilization, and health behaviors following the violent deaths of their 12- to 28-year-old children: a prospective longitudinal analysis.

Health status, health care utilization, and health behaviors of parents bereaved by the violent deaths of their adolescent and young adult children were examined 4, 12, and 24 months later. Participants were 261 bereaved parents (171 mothers, 90 fathers). About 20% of the parents reported "poor" physical health during the early bereavement period compared with 16% of Americans the same age. Over time, mothers' health improved whereas fathers' health deteriorated. Fathers in poor health compared with fathers in good health are 15 times more likely to report emotional distress and 4.6 times more likely to report trauma symptoms. Mothers in poor health compared with mothers in good health are 11 times more likely to report emotional distress and 3 times more likely to report trauma symptoms. Mothers' reports of physician visits and medication use were higher than fathers', however, mothers' rates for both decreased significantly over time whereas fathers' rates remained constant. Over 70% of the mothers and nearly 60% of the fathers practiced 2 or more health protective behaviors over time--a finding significantly associated with fewer stress-related illnesses, days absent from work, and non-productivity at work. Implications for the findings are discussed.

Adolescent↗