[Education level and origin as predictors of hospitalization among Jewish adults in Israel: a population-based study].
BACKGROUND
Age, sex, origin and level of education are recognized as predictors of healthcare utilization. However, the joint effects of these variables on the risk of hospitalization have yet to be described for specific diagnostic categories, such as diseases of the circulatory, respiratory, genitourinary, digestive and nervous systems, infectious and parasitic diseases, malignant neoplasms, injury and poisoning.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the association between origin, education, sex, age and the risk of hospitalization due to major diagnostic categories.


METHODS
Cross-sectional study linking population-based databases, including Israeli census and hospitalization records.


RESULTS
The study encompassed 35,413 hospitalized subjects and 386,317 non-hospitalized subjects. Origin other than Israel was a risk factor for hospitalization, with an odds ratio of 1.31 (95% CI 1.25-1.36) for Asia, 1.43 (1.37-1.50) for Africa, and 1.24 (1.20-1.29) for Europe-America (P for all origins <0.0001). Compared to subjects with post-high school educations, those with high school educations were 1.18 times more likely to be hospitalized (1.14-1.21), while those with elementary school educations experienced a risk of 1.32 (1.28-1.37) (P < 0.0001). Origin was a marked risk factor for hospitalization due to malignancy, with an odds ratio of 2.19 (1.71-2.79) for European-American origin relative to Israeli origin (P < 0.0001). The inverse association between education level and risk of hospitalization was constant across all diagnostic categories other than malignancy.


CONCLUSIONS
Lower education was found to be a significant risk factor for hospitalization in most diagnostic categories. Origin was associated with increased risk for hospitalization due to malignant neoplasms and diseases of the respiratory, nervous, genitourinary and circulatory systems.
Huerta
Dafna
D
Health Unit, Central Bureau of Statistics, Jerusalem. dafnah@cbs.gov.il
Cohen-Feldman
Carole
C
Huerta
Michael
M
D000569:Americas / Q000208:ethnology; D001208:Asia / Q000208:ethnology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005060:Europe / Q000208:ethnology; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D012307:Risk Factors