Social disparities in access and quality of consultation in outpatient care in Germany

TY - JOUR

T1 - Social disparities in access and quality of consultation in outpatient care in Germany

AU - von dem Knesebeck, Olaf

AU - Lüdecke, Daniel

AU - Klein, Jens

PY - 2024/8/14

Y1 - 2024/8/14

N2 - BackgroundOverall, research on social determinants of access and quality of outpatient care in Germany is scarce. Therefore, social disparities (according to sex, age, income, migration background, and health insurance) in perceived access and quality of consultation in outpatient care (primary care physicians and specialists) in Germany were explored in this study.MethodsAnalyses made use of a cross-sectional online survey. An adult population sample was randomly drawn from a panel which was recruited offline (N = 2,201). Perceived access was assessed by waiting time for an appointment (in days) and travel time to the practice (in minutes), while quality of consultation was measured by consultation time (in minutes) and quality of communication (scale of four items, Cronbach’s Alpha 0.89).ResultsIn terms of primary care, perceived access and quality of consultation was worse among women compared to men. Estimated consultation time was shorter among people with statutory health insurance compared to privately insured respondents. Regarding specialist care, people aged 60 years and older reported shorter waiting times and better quality of communication. Lower income groups reported lower quality of communication, while perceived access and quality of consultation was worse among respondents with a statutory health insurance. Variances explained by the social characteristics ranged between 1% and 4% for perceived access and between 3% and 7% for quality of consultation.ConclusionWe found social disparities in perceived access and quality of consultation in outpatient care in Germany. Such disparities in access may indicate structural discrimination, while disparities in quality of consultation may point to interpersonal discrimination in health care.

AB - BackgroundOverall, research on social determinants of access and quality of outpatient care in Germany is scarce. Therefore, social disparities (according to sex, age, income, migration background, and health insurance) in perceived access and quality of consultation in outpatient care (primary care physicians and specialists) in Germany were explored in this study.MethodsAnalyses made use of a cross-sectional online survey. An adult population sample was randomly drawn from a panel which was recruited offline (N = 2,201). Perceived access was assessed by waiting time for an appointment (in days) and travel time to the practice (in minutes), while quality of consultation was measured by consultation time (in minutes) and quality of communication (scale of four items, Cronbach’s Alpha 0.89).ResultsIn terms of primary care, perceived access and quality of consultation was worse among women compared to men. Estimated consultation time was shorter among people with statutory health insurance compared to privately insured respondents. Regarding specialist care, people aged 60 years and older reported shorter waiting times and better quality of communication. Lower income groups reported lower quality of communication, while perceived access and quality of consultation was worse among respondents with a statutory health insurance. Variances explained by the social characteristics ranged between 1% and 4% for perceived access and between 3% and 7% for quality of consultation.ConclusionWe found social disparities in perceived access and quality of consultation in outpatient care in Germany. Such disparities in access may indicate structural discrimination, while disparities in quality of consultation may point to interpersonal discrimination in health care.

U2 - 10.1186/s12875-024-02552-9

DO - 10.1186/s12875-024-02552-9

M3 - SCORING: Journal article

C2 - 39143514

VL - 25

SP - 299

JO - BMC PRIM CARE

JF - BMC PRIM CARE

SN - 1471-2296

IS - 1

M1 - 299

ER -