title: Consumption in out-of-hours health care: Danes double Dutch?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the quantitative consumption in out-of-hours (OOH) primary care in Denmark and the Netherlands, in the context of OOH care services.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective observational study describing contacts with OOH care services, using registration data.
  
  
  METHODS
  OOH care services (i.e. OOH primary care, emergency department, and ambulance care) in one Danish and one Dutch region.
  
  
  METHODS
  All patients contacting the OOH care services in September and October 2011.
  
  
  METHODS
  Consumption as number of contacts per 1000 inhabitants in total and per age group per contact type.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For the two-month period the Danes had 80/1000 contacts with OOH primary care compared with 50/1000 for the Dutch. The number of contacts per 1000 inhabitants per age group varied between the regions, with the largest difference in the 0-5 years age group and a considerable difference in the young-adult groups (20-35 years). The difference was largest for telephone consultations (47/1000 vs. 20/1000), particularly in the youngest age group (154/1000 vs. 39/1000). The Danes also had more home visits than the Dutch (10/1000 vs. 5/1000), while the Dutch had slightly more clinic consultations per 1000 inhabitants than the Danes (25/1000 vs. 23/1000).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Danish population has more contacts with OOH primary care, particularly telephone consultations, especially concerning young patients. Future research should focus on the relevance of contacts and identification of factors related to consumption in OOH primary care.
authors.affiliation: Research Unit for General Practice, Department of Public Health, Aarhus University , Denmark.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Huibers
authors.forename: Grete
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Moth
authors.forename: Mikkel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Andersen
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: van Grunsven
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Giesen
authors.forename: Morten Bondo
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Christensen
authors.forename: Frede
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Olesen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D039602:After-Hours Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003718:Denmark; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult