title: Income, race, and preventable hospitalizations: a small area analysis in New Jersey.
abstract: This research examines the effect of income, race, and cultural factors on preventable hospitalizations, using age and sex-adjusted preventable admissions from 53 contiguous zip codes in New Jersey from 1993 to 1995. Low income was strongly associated with high rates of preventable hospitalization in the study zip codes. Income is likely a proxy for education level, barriers to accessing primary care, and health insurance. A floor effect of income levels was present that may reflect a natural level of preventable hospitalization not affected by income, education, or health insurance status. An independent relationship found between nonwhite race and high preventable hospitalization may be in part the result of delays in seeking care affected by antecedent cultural factors. Removing financial barriers is critical but may be insufficient for reducing preventable hospitalizations if other barriers are not also addressed.
authors.affiliation: Atlantic Quality Institute, Atlantic Health System, Florham Park, New Jersey, USA.
authors.forename: Greg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cable
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006300:Health Services Misuse / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income / Q000145:classification / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007223:Infant; D019458:Insurance Coverage; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009515:New Jersey / Q000453:epidemiology; D011177:Postal Service; D011203:Poverty / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011314:Preventive Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017062:Small-Area Analysis; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors