Italy’s Poor Go to Hospital More

Nera Agabiti of Italy’s Department of Epidemiology led a team of researchers to determine if there were any significant patterns on the fact that poor people go to hospital more than the rich people. Agabiti used the data collected from hospital discharges from four major cities in Italy for the year 2000 focusing on several high-risk diseases such as COPD and asthma. Their study proved statistically that poor people were admitted into a hospital more so than rich people, with COPD being associated with the most admissions.

The team analyzed 9,384 hospitalizations and found that the majority were men from Rome, with an average age of 54. Males also tended to be more vulnerable than females to hospitalization for all studied conditions except for asthma. This finding was surprising as asthma is more prevalent in males. Yet, this study confirmed earlier ones that asthma care is greater for men than it is for women. In general, the hospitalization rate was greater in the poorest people with COPD-compromised patients having the highest rate.

Highlights of the study showed that poor people need more hospital care, yet it encouraged future studies to focus on economic, structural, and cultural factors that may affect an impoverished person’s access to medical care. Additional studies also confirmed causation between preventative health care which would lower the risk for otherwise avoidable hospitalizations. In Italy, this widening chasm between the income levels obviously affects health care. Based on these facts, there is an apparent need for providing and improving primary health care to lessen the unnecessary high amount of hospital admissions within the lower income bracket.