ArticleInternational journal of environmental research and public health2022
Inequality in Healthcare Utilization in Italy: How Important Are Barriers to Access?
Article in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers.
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Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- Perceptions, Attitudes, and Expectations Toward Primary Health Care Service Provision and Their Association with Service Utilization in Subdistrict Health Promoting Hospitals in Northeastern Thailand: A Cross-Sectional Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- The Geography of Frail Ageing in Italy: Longevity, Non-Self-Sufficiency and Implications for Assistance Benefits.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- Bronchiectasis in Italy: an analysis of the EMBARC registry.ERJ open research · 2026Article
- Self-care and self-efficacy in self-care behaviors of older adults with multiple chronic conditions living in low-middle income country: an observational study.BMC nursing · 2026Article
- Unveiling and understanding health inequalities: A bi-clustering study on SDG3 implementation in the Italian regions.PloS one · 2026Article
- Seasonal Mortality and its Impact on Spatial Inequality in Life Expectancy Across Italy.European journal of population = Revue europeenne de demographie · 2025Article
- Frequent Users of Emergency Departments: Analysis of the Characteristics and Geographical Distribution in a Local Health Authority in Rome, Italy.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Patients' Attitude toward Less Frequent Surveillance of Low-Risk Pancreatic Cysts: A Multicenter European Cohort Study.Medical decision making : an international journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making · 2025Observational
- Modeling determinants of accessibility for healthcare services in rural and urban areas of Dodoma, Tanzania.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Exploring influenza vaccination determinants through digital participatory surveillance.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Geographical disparities in fibromyalgia severity: An Italian study.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2025Article
- Reforming Italy's long-term care system: the role of barriers to and drivers of the use of services at the local level.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Lesson in understanding parents' perspective: perception of quality of care and COVID-19-related fears among users of paediatric health services over the COVID-19 pandemic in 11 facilities in Italy.BMJ paediatrics open · 2024Article
- Self-medication among general population in the European Union: prevalence and associated factors.European journal of epidemiology · 2024Article
- Age assessment of unaccompanied foreign minors: an analyses of knowledge and practices among Italian pediatricians.Italian journal of pediatrics · 2024Article
- Content validity of the EQ-HWB and EQ-HWB-S in a sample of Italian patients, informal caregivers and members of the general public.Journal of patient-reported outcomes · 2024Article
- Intention to leave, depersonalisation and job satisfaction in physicians and nurses: a cross-sectional study in Europe.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Public health impacts of air pollution from the spatiotemporal heterogeneity perspective: 31 provinces and municipalities in China from 2013 to 2020.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Regional and sex inequalities of avoidable mortality in Italy: A time trend analysis.Public health in practice (Oxford, England) · 2023Article
- Caries Severity, Decayed First Permanent Molars and Associated Factors in 6-7 Years Old Schoolchildren Living in Palermo (Southern Italy).Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
With the ageing population, equitable access to medical care has proven to be paramount for the effective and efficient management of all diseases. Healthcare access can be hindered by cost barriers for drugs or exams, long waiting lists or difficult access to the place where the needed healthcare service is provided. The aim of this paper is to investigate whether the probability of facing one of these barriers varies among individuals with different socio-economic status and care needs, controlling for geographical variability.
methodsThe sample for this study included 9629 interviews with Italian individuals, aged 15 and over, from the second wave (2015) of the European Health Interview Survey, which was conducted in all EU Member States. To model barriers to healthcare, two-level variance components of logistic regression models with a nested structure given by the four Italian macro-areas were considered.
resultsOf the barriers considered in this study, only two were found to be significantly associated with healthcare utilization. Specifically, they are long waiting lists for specialist service accessibility (adjOR = 1.20, 95% CI (1.07; 1.35)) and very expensive exams for dental visit accessibility (adjOR = 0.84, 95% CI (0.73; 0.96)). Another important result was the evidence of an increasing north-south gradient for all of the considered barriers.
conclusionIn Italy, healthcare access is generally guaranteed for all of the services, except for specialist and dental visits that face a waiting time and financial barriers. However, barriers to healthcare were differentiated by income and sex. The north-south gradient for healthcare utilization could be explained through the existing differences in organizational characteristics of the several regional healthcare services throughout Italy.
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