Do lower socioeconomic groups use more health services, because they suffer from more illnesses?

Background: The more diseases one suffers from, the higher the number of health care services attended. This study aims to examine the role this association plays in socio-economic differences in multiple health care utilization. Methods: The study population derived from the Netherlands Health Interview Surveys (1990-1998) and was 25 years or older (N=53,339). Socio-economic position was indicated by educational level. Comorbidity was defined as the concurrence of multiple health conditions in the same person. Multiple health care utilization was measured by the number of different health care services contacted in the preceding year. Logistic multiple regression was used, adjusted for age, gender and year of interview. Results: The lower the socioeconomic status, the more often people used multiple health care services (OR 1.46) and the higher the prevalence of comorbidity (OR 2.47). Conclusions: Lower socioeconomic groups use more health care services, partly because they suffer from more illnesses.