[Frequency of medical consultations in the adult population in Spain, before and after the restriction of access to undocumented immigrants]

Abstract

Objective: To study the frequency of medical consultations in autochthonous and immigrant populations in Spain, before and after a government measure of 2012 that restricted the use of public health services to undocumented immigrants.

Material and methods: The data were taken from the European Health Surveys in Spain in 2009 and 2014. An analysis was made of the consultations with the family doctor and the consultations with the medical specialist in autochthonous and immigrant populations from 18 to 64 years. Percentage increases were calculated in the frequency of people who consulted in 2014 with respect to 2009, and, in each year, the percentage ratio (PR) of consultation in immigrants with respect autochthonous, with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI).

Results: The frequency of consultations increased in 2014 compared to 2009, with the exception of family doctor's consultation with the autochthonous women. The highest increases occurred in visits to medical specialists in immigrants (39.9%), in autochthonous (21.6%), and in visits by the family doctor to immigrant women. After adjusting for age and socioeconomic variables and indicators of need for assistance, there were no significant differences in both years between immigrants and autochthonous in the 2types of consultations.

Conclusions: The frequency of consultations to the family doctor or medical specialist did not decrease in Spain between 2009 and 2014 in the immigrant population.

Keywords: Encuesta de salud; España; Health services; Health survey; Immigration; Inmigración; Servicios de salud; Spain.