tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
J Public Health (Oxf). 2011 Apr 2. [Epub ahead of print]
The determinants of health-seeking behaviour during the A/H1N1 influenza pandemic: an ecological study.
Haroon SM, Barbosa GP, Saunders PJ.
Department of Public Health, Sandwell Primary Care Trust, Kingston House, 438 High Street, West Bromwich, West Midlands B70 9LD, UK.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: This is an ecological study that examines the relationship between antiviral drug collection during the 2009/2010 A/H1N1 influenza pandemic, and area-level ethnicity, socioeconomic deprivation and distance from an antiviral collection point (ACP).
METHODS: Age-standardized antiviral collection rates (ACR) were calculated for each super output area (geographic areas representing a population of ∼1500) in Sandwell, UK for all residents who received an antiviral drug for influenza-like illness between 23 July 2009 and 7 February 2010. Multivariable regression was used to examine the relationship between ACR and ethnicity (percentage population non-white), socioeconomic deprivation (index of multiple deprivation, IMD) and distance from an ACP.
RESULTS: Socioeconomic deprivation, ethnicity and distance from an ACP were independently associated with a reduction in ACR. Each one-point increase in the IMD score was associated with a drop in the ACR of 15.7 prescriptions per 100 000 population (P= 0.013).
CONCLUSIONS: Socioeconomic deprivation, ethnicity and distance from an ACP may have influenced health-seeking behaviour during the 2009/2010 influenza pandemic. This suggests possible inequalities in access to antivirals during the most recent influenza pandemic. Qualitative research is needed to examine the reasons for this. Individual-level data on ethnicity should be routinely collected in the event of a future pandemic.
PMID: 21460370 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21460370
The determinants of health-seeking behaviour during the A/H1N1 influenza pandemic: an ecological study.
Haroon SM, Barbosa GP, Saunders PJ.
Department of Public Health, Sandwell Primary Care Trust, Kingston House, 438 High Street, West Bromwich, West Midlands B70 9LD, UK.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: This is an ecological study that examines the relationship between antiviral drug collection during the 2009/2010 A/H1N1 influenza pandemic, and area-level ethnicity, socioeconomic deprivation and distance from an antiviral collection point (ACP).
METHODS: Age-standardized antiviral collection rates (ACR) were calculated for each super output area (geographic areas representing a population of ∼1500) in Sandwell, UK for all residents who received an antiviral drug for influenza-like illness between 23 July 2009 and 7 February 2010. Multivariable regression was used to examine the relationship between ACR and ethnicity (percentage population non-white), socioeconomic deprivation (index of multiple deprivation, IMD) and distance from an ACP.
RESULTS: Socioeconomic deprivation, ethnicity and distance from an ACP were independently associated with a reduction in ACR. Each one-point increase in the IMD score was associated with a drop in the ACR of 15.7 prescriptions per 100 000 population (P= 0.013).
CONCLUSIONS: Socioeconomic deprivation, ethnicity and distance from an ACP may have influenced health-seeking behaviour during the 2009/2010 influenza pandemic. This suggests possible inequalities in access to antivirals during the most recent influenza pandemic. Qualitative research is needed to examine the reasons for this. Individual-level data on ethnicity should be routinely collected in the event of a future pandemic.
PMID: 21460370 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21460370