Emergency Health Care Use among Sociodemographic Groups of Children Presenting to Emergency Departments for Self-Harm in Alberta

Abstract

Objective: To examine sociodemographic variations among children <18 years in (1) rates of self-harm visits to emergency departments (EDs) and (2) physician follow-up after the selfharm visit in Alberta. Methods: A retrospective, population-based cohort (2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011) of ED visits for self-harm by individuals <18 years was conducted using administrative databases from Alberta, Canada. Individuals were grouped by First Nations status or type of health care premium subsidy (family receipt of government subsidy, human services program subsidy, no subsidy received). Visits from 104 EDs were summarized by crude and directly standardized visit rates (DSVRs) per 100,000 individuals. Kaplan-Meier estimates for median estimated time to physician follow-up were calculated with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: During the study period, visit rates decreased with the exception of children from families receiving government-sponsored program subsidy (DSVRs 163/ 100,000 to 250/100,000; p = 0.032). First Nations children had disproportionately fewer follow-up visits compared to other children. The median time to follow-up for First Nations children was 39 days (95% CI: 32, 48) compared to 16 days for children from families receiving no subsidy (95% CI: 14, 19), who had the shortest follow-up time after an ED visit. Conclusions: Sociodemographic differences were evident in ED visit rates as well as the number of and time to physician followup visit. The disparities experienced by First Nations children in the follow-up period highlight an opportunity for culturallygrounded risk and needs assessment in the ED to determine and facilitate timely and appropriate follow-up care.

Acute health care among Indigenous patients in Canada: a scoping review

“…For pulmonary diseases, two studies found no difference in the quality of care for people with lower respiratory tract infections [ 55 , 115 ] and one study concluded that Indigenous patients with asthma or COPD were 55% less likely to see a specialist and 66% less likely to have a spirometry [ 96 ]. For injuries, one study found that Indigenous patients wait longer for their follow-up [ 106 ], are less likely to opt for palliative health care and undergo more surgeries [ 116 ]. Two studies showed a decreased chance for Indigenous patients to consult a specialist for their health problem [ 48 , 120 ].…”

“…Four studies did not present a comparison with non-Indigenous patients and conclusions could therefore not be drawn [102][103][104][105]. Finally, Newton found that Indigenous patients had double the rate of emergency visits for self-harm [106] and for psychiatric illnesses [107] when compared to non-Indigenous patients.…”