Abstract
Aim: To compare health service usage in rural versus urban end stage kidney disease (ESKD) patients in New South Wales (NSW).
Background: ESKD is a significant burden upon health systems. International evidence suggests health services are used differently by rural and urban patients.
Methods: We identified all NSW residents receiving renal replacement therapy 2000–2010 using the ANZDATA Registry. Patients were linked to the NSW Admitted Patient Data Collection (NSW APDC – records all NSW hospitalizations). We separated people into rural (living out of highly accessible areas) and urban (living in highly accessible areas), using postcodes and ARIA scores. Rates of hospitalisation, inter‐hospital transfers and lengths of stay were compared. Day‐only and dialysis admissions were excluded.
Results: ANZDATA identified 11,036 people, 531 did not match within NSW APDC or had missing data, leaving 10,505 patients (120,828 hospitalisation records), with median follow‐up of 4.41 years (IQR 2.24–7.82). Of these, 1,527 (15%) lived rurally and 8,978 (85%) urban.
Background: ESKD is a significant burden upon health systems. International evidence suggests health services are used differently by rural and urban patients.
Methods: We identified all NSW residents receiving renal replacement therapy 2000–2010 using the ANZDATA Registry. Patients were linked to the NSW Admitted Patient Data Collection (NSW APDC – records all NSW hospitalizations). We separated people into rural (living out of highly accessible areas) and urban (living in highly accessible areas), using postcodes and ARIA scores. Rates of hospitalisation, inter‐hospital transfers and lengths of stay were compared. Day‐only and dialysis admissions were excluded.
Results: ANZDATA identified 11,036 people, 531 did not match within NSW APDC or had missing data, leaving 10,505 patients (120,828 hospitalisation records), with median follow‐up of 4.41 years (IQR 2.24–7.82). Of these, 1,527 (15%) lived rurally and 8,978 (85%) urban.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 028 |
| Pages (from-to) | 24-24 |
| Number of pages | 1 |
| Journal | Nephrology |
| Volume | 19 |
| Issue number | Suppl. 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 20 Jul 2014 |
