Pediatric hospitalizations for ambulatory care sensitive conditions, a comparative study of Saskatchewan registered Indians and northerners with rural and urban Saskatchewan children
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Date
1998-04-01T00:00:00Z
Authors
Irvine, James
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Abstract
This study compared the 1992-93 hospitalization rates for conditions considered to be preventable or treatable through ambulatory carer children of five Saskatchewan population groups including northern and southern registered Indian children as well as non-Indian children in northern, rural and urban areas. A Pediatric Ambulatory Care Sensitive (PACS) index, was used as an indicator of hospitalizations preventable through ambulatory care. Results of this study revealed hospitalizations for all conditions and for PACS conditions are greater for registered Indian children compared to other population groups; greater for southern registered Indian children than for northern registered Indians; and greater for other northern children than those in southern rural and urban communities. An assessment using the proportion of hospitalizations for PACS conditions was not found to be as useful because of the difficulties in interpretation. These comparisons provided some assessment of various models of ambulatory health services as northern Registered Indians have access to a primary health care system involving primary care nurses in on-reserve health centers who are teamed with visiting family physicians; whereas the southern groups do not have a specific, organized primary health care system. Hospitalization for some ambulatory care sensitive conditions could be used as an indicator for monitoring changes in access to ambulatory care during a period of health organizational change.