Health service attendance patterns in an urban Aboriginal health service.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the health service attendance patterns of urban Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Aboriginal) Australians and make comparisons with those of the general Australian population.


METHODS
General practitioner-completed survey of all attendances over two separate 2-week periods in 2006 at an urban Aboriginal health service in Canberra, which provides services for about 3500 patients per annum.


METHODS
Standardised attendance ratios (SARs) for a range of health problems, using patients attending Australian general practice for the same reasons as the reference population.


RESULTS
Patients attending the Aboriginal health service were significantly younger than the Australian general practice patient reference population. The most common conditions managed were psychological, encompassing substance misuse; psychological problems accounted for 24% of all attendances. Patients attending the Aboriginal health service had higher rates of attendance for psychological conditions (SAR, 2.14; 95% CI, 2.01-2.28), endocrine conditions (SAR, 2.44; 95% CI, 2.29-2.60) and neurological conditions (SAR, 2.90; 95% CI, 2.71-3.09), as well as for circulatory, digestive and male and female genital conditions, than the reference population. Patients attending the Aboriginal health service had significantly lower attendance rates than the Australian population for respiratory illnesses, and conditions related to eyes or ears.


CONCLUSIONS
At this urban Aboriginal health service, attendance patterns reflected complex health care needs that are different from those expected of a population of this age. Urban Aboriginal health service attendance appears to reflect significant ill health among the patients, aligning more with Aboriginal health statistics nationally rather than health statistics for urban non-Aboriginal Australians.
Flegg
Karen M
KM
School of General Practice, Rural, and Indigenous Health, Australian National University Medical School, Canberra, ACT, Australia. karen.flegg@anu.edu.au
Phillips
Christine B
CB
Collins
Anne L
AL
Sharp
Peter G
PG
Kanagasundaram
Meetali
M
Lovett
Ray W
RW
Kljakovic
Marjan
M
D001315:Australia; D003153:Community Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D014505:Urban Population