Use of health services by children and young people according to ethnicity and social class: secondary analysis of a national survey.
OBJECTIVE
To assess whether equity is achieved in use of general practitioner, outpatient, and inpatient services by children and young people according to their ethnic group and socioeconomic background.


METHODS
Secondary analysis of the British general household survey, 1991-94.


METHODS
20 473 children and young people aged between 0 and 19 years.


METHODS
Consultations with a general practitioner within a two week period, outpatient attendances within a three month period, and inpatient stays during the past year.


RESULTS
There were no significant class differences in the use of health services by children and young people, and there was little evidence of variation in use of health services according to housing tenure and parental work status. South Asian children and young people used general practitioner services more than any other ethnic group after controlling for socioeconomic background and perceived health status, but the use of hospital outpatient and inpatient services was significantly lower for children and young people from all minority ethnic groups compared with the white population.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results differ from previous studies, which have reported significant class differences in use of health services for other age groups. We found no evidence that children and young people's use of health services varied according to their socioeconomic status, suggesting that equity has been achieved. A child or young person's ethnic origin, however, was clearly associated with use of general practitioner and hospital services, which could imply that children and young people from minority ethnic groups receive a poorer quality of health care than other children and young people.
Department of Sociology, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey GU2 5XH. h.cooper@surrey.ac.uk
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D000293:Adolescent; D016497:Adolescent Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000349:Africa / Q000208:ethnology; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001208:Asia / Q000208:ethnology; D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005194:Family Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000208:ethnology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012923:Social Class; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology; D014600:Utilization Review; D014900:West Indies / Q000208:ethnology