Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34162427›Full record

ArticleArchives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique2021

Use of health care services by people with substance use disorders in Belgium: a register-based cohort study.

Luk Van Baelen, Els Plettinckx, Jérôme Antoine, Karin De Ridder, Brecht Devleesschauwer, Lies Gremeaux

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Luk Van BaelenSciensano, Department of Epdemiology and public health, Rue Juliette Wytsmanstraat, 14, 1050, Brussels, Belgium. luk.vanbaelen@sciensano.be.
Els PlettinckxSciensano, Department of Epdemiology and public health, Rue Juliette Wytsmanstraat, 14, 1050, Brussels, Belgium.
Jérôme AntoineSciensano, Department of Epdemiology and public health, Rue Juliette Wytsmanstraat, 14, 1050, Brussels, Belgium.
Karin De RidderSciensano, Department of Epdemiology and public health, Rue Juliette Wytsmanstraat, 14, 1050, Brussels, Belgium.
Brecht DevleesschauwerSciensano, Department of Epdemiology and public health, Rue Juliette Wytsmanstraat, 14, 1050, Brussels, Belgium.
Lies GremeauxSciensano, Department of Epdemiology and public health, Rue Juliette Wytsmanstraat, 14, 1050, Brussels, Belgium.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe objective of the study was to describe the frequencies of health-care utilization by people with substance use disorder (SUD), including contacts with general practitioners (GP), psychiatrists, emergency departments (ED) and hospital admissions and to compare this frequency to the general population.

methodsData from the national register of people who were in treatment for SUD between 2011 and 2014 was linked to health care data from the Belgian health insurance (N = 30,905). Four comparators were matched on age, sex and place of residence to each subject in treatment for SUD (N = 123,620). Cases were further divided in five mutually exclusive categories based on the main SUD (opiates, crack/cocaine, stimulants, cannabis and alcohol). We calculated the average number of contacts with GP, psychiatrists and ED, and hospital admissions per person over a ten year period (2008-2017), computed descriptive statistics for each of the SUD and used negative binomial regression models to compare cases and comparators.

resultsOver the ten-year period, people in treatment for SUD overall had on average 60 GP contacts, 3.9 psychiatrist contacts, 7.8 visits to the ED, and 16 hospital admissions. Rate ratios, comparing cases and corresponding comparators, showed that people in treatment for SUD had on average 1.9 more contacts with a GP (95 % CI 1.9-2.0), 7.4 more contacts with a psychiatrist (95 % CI 7.0-7.7), 4.2 more ED visits (95 % CI 4.2-4.3), and 6.4 more hospital admissions (95 % CI 6.3-6.5).

conclusionsThe use of health services for people with SUD is between almost two (GP) and seven times (psychiatrist) higher than for comparators. People in treatment for alcohol use disorders use health care services more frequently than people in treatment for other SUD. The use of health services remained stable in the five years before and after the moment people with SUD entered into treatment for SUD. The higher use of primary health care services by people with SUD might indicate that they have higher health care needs than comparators.

Indexed as

BelgiumCohort studyEpidemiologyHealth care service providersHealth care servicesSubstance Use Disorders

Identifiers

PMID34162427
PMCPMC8220672

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.