Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Comparative Study
A population-based study of the association between socioeconomic status and emergency department utilization in Ontario, Canada.
The relative effects of socioeconomic status (SES) and health status on emergency department (ED) utilization are controversial. The authors examined this in a setting with universal health coverage. ⋯ In a setting with universal health insurance, worse health status is the largest predictor of ED utilization, but low SES is independently associated with increased use of the ED, regardless of visit urgency. This study lends support to findings in other health systems that those using EDs are more ill and more disadvantaged.