Another look at emergency room overcrowding: accessibility of the health services and quality of care.

PURPOSE To describe both the social characteristics and the health needs of the medical users of a pediatric hospital Emergency Room with special emphasis on frequent use. STUDY SELECTION Observational study on health services utilization and health care needs of young children consulting at a teaching hospital's Emergency Room. DATA SOURCES Mother interview and medical record review. RESULTS OF DATA SYNTHESIS Children from underprivileged strata are more often high Emergency Room users. Their preventive needs are satisfied but adequate follow-up of their medical problems is more often lacking. CONCLUSION To understand why some achievable benefits are not achieved it is necessary to evaluate the varying performance of health services according to the social origin of the users.