Disparities in equity and access for hospitalised atherothrombotic disease.

OBJECTIVE This study of equity and access characterises admissions for coronary, cerebrovascular and peripheral arterial disease by hospital type (rural, tertiary and non-tertiary metropolitan) in a representative Australian population. METHODS We conducted a descriptive analysis using data linkage of all residents aged 35-84 years hospitalised in Western Australia with a primary diagnosis for an atherothrombotic event in 2007. We compared sociodemographic and clinical features by atherothrombotic territory and hospital type. RESULTS There were 11670 index admissions for atherothrombotic disease in 2007 of which 46% were in tertiary hospitals, 41% were in non-tertiary metropolitan hospitals and 13% were in rural hospitals. Coronary heart disease comprised 72% of admissions, followed by cerebrovascular disease (19%) and peripheral arterial disease (9%). Comparisons of socioeconomic disadvantage reveal that for those admitted to rural hospitals, more than one-third were in the most disadvantaged quintile, compared with one-fifth to any metropolitan hospital. CONCLUSIONS Significant differences in demographic characteristics were evident between Western Australian tertiary and non-tertiary hospitals for patients hospitalised for atherothrombotic disease. Notably, the differences among tertiary, non-tertiary metropolitan and rural hospitals were related to socioeconomic disadvantage. This has implications for atherothrombotic healthcare provision and the generalisation of research findings from studies conducted exclusively in the tertiary metropolitan hospitals.