The number of times a person uses a health service is influenced by many factors, including patient health needs, the available supply of services and potential barriers such as cost.
Figure 3.3 is an interactive chart where the average number of services per person was calculated for:
- people in the dementia study cohort who used the service at least once (referred to in the figures as “service users”)
- all people in the dementia study cohort, regardless of whether they used the service (referred to in the figures as “cohort”).
The following discussion relates to people who used a service at least once.
Common patterns of variation by socioeconomic area
Of the people living with dementia who used a health service at least once, those living in the community in the lowest socioeconomic areas had a lower average number of specialist attendances than people living in the highest socioeconomic areas, both within and outside Major cities.
People living in residential aged care had a similar average number of specialist attendances across socioeconomic areas, although the average number of attendances Outside major cities was lower than that for Major cities (see also Figure 2.3).
Different patterns of variation within and outside Major cities
Of the people living with dementia who used a health service at least once, those living in the lowest socioeconomic areas had:
- a higher average number of GP attendances per person in Major cities, both in the community and in residential aged care
- a lower average number of GP attendances per person in residential aged care Outside major cities, but a similar average number per person in the community
compared with people living in the highest socioeconomic areas.
