[Do women demand to be assisted at medical clinics more often than men?].
BACKGROUND
Different features of the users of the Spanish Public Health System have been previously assessed, specially in General Practice and Hospital Emergency Departments. Nevertheless, the epidemiological characteristics of those patients who attend to specialised clinics have not been so thoroughly evaluated.


METHODS
The referee of the demand, the place of residence, the age and the sex of patients were all analysed for the ,first visits, at the Medical Department clinics (Internal Medicine, Cardiology, Gastroenterology, Pneumology) in our hospital, during 2002.


RESULTS
A total of 7,486 demands for attention (53.3% were women) were asked for by 5,841 patients (52.8%) were women. When analysing the variable, place of residence, we find women asked for more frequently than men, in the categories of General Practice Department and age less than 60 years. Those patients coming from urban areas were more in percentage than those coming from rural areas. Whereas the, index of frequency, was higher in women than in men, however, there were no differences between urban and rural areas.


CONCLUSIONS
In our targeted population we have observed a higher demand for medical clinics in women, though the actual demand will depend on factors such as age, place of residence and the referee.
Rosa-Jiménez
F
F
Area de Sistemas de Información, Hospital Alto Guadalquivir, Andújar, Jaén. med024245@saludalia.com
Montijano Cabrera
A M
AM
Ilia Herráiz Montalvo
C
C
Zambrana García
J L
JL
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013030:Spain