Inequities in Ambulatory Care and the Relationship Between Socioeconomic Status and Respiratory Hospitalizations: A Population-Based Study of a Canadian City

Abstract

In the setting of universal health care, the income-based disparity in hospitalizations for respiratory ambulatory care-sensitive conditions cannot be explained by factors directly related to the use of ambulatory services that can be measured using administrative data. Our findings suggest that we look beyond the health care system at the broader social determinants of health to reduce the number of avoidable hospitalizations among the poor.