Patient Characteristics associated with Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions

Background The data for this study comes from the Queensland Linked Data Set [7] for the 1996/1997 financial year. The data set contains de-identified individual-level linked data from hospital admission records, Medicare Benefits Scheme claims (MBS) and Pharmaceutical Benefits claims (PBS). Population figures are based on 1996 census data by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS 1996 Census of Population and Housing, Postal Area Population Data from CDATA96). Methods We examine patient sociodemographic characteristics and costs associated with adult and pediatric ambulatory care sensitive condition (ACSC) hospitalisations in Queensland. Bivariate statistical comparisons are used to test the differences between ACSC and non-ACSC groups in specific sociodemographic characteristics. Logistic regression determines the relative significance of individual characteristics/variables to hospitalizations for ACSC. Costs associated with ACSC and non-ACSC hospitalisations are calculated based on the average cost of each Diagnosis-Related Group (DRG). Results The study has found that indigenous, low-income, and uninsured patients are more likely to be hospitalised for ACSC than nonindigenous, high-income and privately insured patients. The average cost per ACSC hospitalisation was $2,920 for adults and $1,256 for children.