Health care supply for cataract in Austrian public and private hospitals.
OBJECTIVE
This study aims to explain spatial variability or cataract and cataract surgery in Austria. The effect of the availability of health care services on spatial variation is investigated.


METHODS
A retrospective study, using routine hospital data from all Austrian public and private hospitals. Calculation of age- and gender-standardized hospitalization ratios (SHR) for all 121 Austrian districts. Poisson regression for age-specific relative risks was performed.


RESULTS
The authors found high regional variability between districts and significant differences in the hospitalization rates of cataract disease and extraction between men and women. There was a significant correlation between standardized hospitalization ratios for districts and the availability of hospitals with departments of ophthalmology. There was a significant difference in length of stay for patients with cataract surgery between public and private hospitals.


CONCLUSIONS
Use of routine hospital data in geographic analysis allows large regional studies on health care supply for cataract surgery. Differences in the supply by hospitals between districts depend on the availability of hospitals with departments of ophthalmology. The overall demand for cataract surgery in Austria finds its proper supply in many Austrian regions, but needs further development.
Department of Medical Statistics, Informatics and Health Economics, Schoepfstrasse 41/1, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria. Verena.barbieri@uibk.ac.at
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D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001317:Austria / Q000453:epidemiology; D002386:Cataract / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002387:Cataract Extraction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006296:Health Services / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D006302:Health Services Research; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016304:Hospitals, Private / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006779:Hospitals, Public / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009885:Ophthalmology; D011320:Primary Health Care; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D000078329:Workforce