title: [Utilization of outpatient and inpatient health services in Germany: results of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Adults (DEGS1)].
abstract: The article provides representative benchmarks and trends for the use of medical and therapeutic services in Germany on the basis of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Adults (DEGS1) and the German National Health Interview and Examination Survey 1998 (GNHIES98) from the years 2008-2011 and 1997/98, respectively. DEGS1 shows that women seek most medical services more often than men. Differences by gender decreased with age. In almost all services, an increase in utilisation is recorded with age. There are large differences in utilisation depending on self-rated health, as opposed to fewer differences by social status, health insurance and region. At both time points, the proportion of the population that utilised outpatient or inpatient medical assistance at least once a year, is almost unchanged high. At the same time, a significant reduction in the annual number of contacts with medical practices and the length of hospital stay was recorded as well as an increase of the consulted specialist groups. This may be explained due to regulation effects of earlier reforms. An English full-text version of this article is available at SpringerLink as supplemental.
authors.affiliation: Abteilung für Epidemiologie und Gesundheitsmonitoring, Robert Koch-Institut, General Pape-Str. 62-66, 12101 Berlin, Deutschland. P.Rattay@rki.de
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rattay
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Butschalowsky
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rommel
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Prütz
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jordan
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nowossadeck
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Domanska
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kamtsiuris
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D015276:Health Care Rationing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012923:Social Class; D014600:Utilization Review; D055815:Young Adult