Observational studyBMC health services research2021
Regional variation of potentially avoidable hospitalisations in Switzerland: an observational study.
Observational study in BMC health services research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 13 citations in OpenAlex.
- Article
- Urgent care utilization patterns in Switzerland: a population-based cross-sectional study.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Assessment of potentially avoidable hospitalizations in Ningxia, China: application of a China-specific ACSCs list.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Hospitalizations and inpatient resource consumption of patients suffering from chronic disease - Past trend and forecast for Switzerland.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- The PopGrouper as a tool for morbidity adjustment in regional comparisons of health care: an analytical framework.Research in health services & regions · 2025Article
- Trends in Avoidable Hospitalizations for Heart Failure in Switzerland (1998-2018): A Cross-Sectional Analysis.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Twenty-year trends of potentially avoidable hospitalizations for hypertension in Switzerland.Hypertension research : official journal of the Japanese Society of Hypertension · 2024Article
- Mapping Health Disparities in 11 High-Income Nations.JAMA network open · 2023Article
- Different health systems - Different mortality outcomes? Regional disparities in avoidable mortality across German-speaking Europe, 1992-2019.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2023Article
- Article
- Potentially Avoidable Hospitalizations by Asthma and COPD in Switzerland from 1998 to 2018: A Cross-Sectional Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- The Characteristics and Outcomes of Patients Transported by Ambulance Due to Ambulatory Care Sensitive Condition: A Population-Based Descriptive Study in Osaka, Japan.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- Predicting Future Geographic Hotspots of Potentially Preventable Hospitalisations Using All Subset Model Selection and Repeated K-Fold Cross-Validation.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPrimary health care is subject to regional variation, which may be due to unequal and inefficient distribution of services. One key measure of such variation are potentially avoidable hospitalisations, i.e., hospitalisations for conditions that could have been dealt with in situ by sufficient primary health care provision. Particularly, potentially avoidable hospitalisations for ambulatory care-sensitive conditions (ACSCs) are a substantial and growing burden for health care systems that require targeting in health care policy.
aimsUsing data from the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (SFSO) from 2017, we applied small area analysis to visualize regional variation to comprehensively map potentially avoidable hospitalisations for five ACSCs from Swiss nursing homes, home care organisations and the general population.
methodsThis retrospective observational study used data on all Swiss hospitalisations in 2017 to assess regional variations of potentially avoidable hospitalisations for angina pectoris, congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes complications and hypertension. We used small areas, utilisation-based hospital service areas (HSAs), and administrative districts (Cantons) as geographic zones. The outcomes of interest were age and sex standardised rates of potentially avoidable hospitalisations for ACSCs in adults (> 15 years). Our inferential analyses used linear mixed models with Gaussian distribution.
resultsWe identified 46,479 hospitalisations for ACSC, or 4.3% of all hospitalisations. Most of these occurred in the elderly population for congestive heart failure and COPD. The median rate of potentially avoidable hospitalisation for ACSC was 527 (IQR 432-620) per 100.000 inhabitants. We found substantial regional variation for HSAs and administrative districts as well as disease-specific regional patterns.
conclusionsDifferences in continuity of care might be key drivers for regional variation of potentially avoidable hospitalisations for ACSCs. These results provide a new perspective on the functioning of primary care structures in Switzerland and call for novel approaches in effective primary care delivery.
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