IJERPH, Vol. 15, Pages 352: Socioeconomic Inequality in One-Year Mortality of Elderly People with Hip Fracture in Taiwan

This study aims to investigate whether socioeconomic inequality in one-year mortality exists among Taiwanese elderly people. This population-based cohort study included 193,158 elderly patients (≥65 years) admitted for hip fracture between 2000 and 2012. With over a one-year follow-up, 10.52% of the participants died from all causes. The mortality rate was low in the northern part of Taiwan and in urban and high-family-income areas. Multiple Poisson regression models further suggested that the level of >Q1–Q3 and >Q3–Max showed significantly reduced odds ratio of one-year mortality at 0.90 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.87–0.93) and 0.77 (95% CI, 0.74–0.81), respectively, compared with that of the lowest family income level (i.e., Min.–Q1). Despite a monotonic decline in overall one-year mortality during the study period, socioeconomic inequality in one-year mortality rate remained evident. The annual percentage change in one-year mortality was higher (−2.86) in elderly people from families with high income (>Q3–Max.) than that for elderly patients from family with low income (Min.–Q1, −1.94). Accessibility, rather than affordability, to health care for hip fracture is probably responsible for the observed socioeconomic inequality.
Source: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Article Source Type: research