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Objective: The objective of this work was to study mortality increase in Spain during the first and second academic semesters of 2020, coinciding with the first 2 waves of the Covid-19 pandemic; by sex, age, and education. Methods: An observational study was carried out, using linked populations and deaths’ data from 2017 to 2020. The mortality rates from all causes and leading causes other than Covid-19 during each semester of 2020, compared to the 2017–2019 averages for the same semester, was also estimated. Mortality rate ratios (MRR) and differences were used for comparison. Results: All-cause mortality rates increased in 2020 compared to pre-covid, except among working-age, (25–64 years) highly-educated women. Such increases were larger in lower-educated people between the working age range, in both 2020 semesters, but not at other ages. In the elderly, the MMR in the first semester in women and men were respectively, 1.14, and 1.25 among lower-educated people, and 1.28 and 1.23 among highly-educated people. In the second semester, the MMR were 1.12 in both sexes among lower-educated people and 1.13 in women and 1.16 in men among highly-educated people. Conclusion: Lower-educated people within working age and highly-educated people at older ages showed the greatest increase in all-cause mortality in 2020, compared to the pre-pandemic period.

The objective of universal health care systems is to achieve equality in the use of health services at the same level of care need. This study evaluates the relationship of socioeconomic position with the frequency of doctor visits in subjects with and without chronic diseases in Germany and Spain. The dependent variables included number of consultations and if a medical consultation occurred. The socioeconomic factors were income and education. The magnitude of the relationship between socioeconomic position and medical consultation frequency was estimated by calculating the percentage ratio using binomial regression and by calculating the difference in consultations by analysis of the covariance, in the case of number of visits. Statistically significant findings according to education were not observed. The percentage ratio in the medical consultations among those with lower and higher income was 1.03 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01-2.88) in Germany and 1.11 (95% CI 1.03-1.20) in Spain among subjects with any of the studied chronic conditions. Also, in Germany the difference in the average number of consultations comparing lower income subjects with higher was 3.98 (95% CI 2.40-5.57) in those with chronic conditions. In both countries, there were no differences in the frequency of doctor visits according to education. However, a pro-inequality trend exists in favor of subjects with lower income.

Aim This study aims to evaluate the trend of avoidable mortality and of mortality from all other causes of death in urban and rural areas in Spain, throughout the first 2 decades of the twenty-first century. Methods Data deaths and population by age and sex, according to the area of residence, were obtained from the National Institute of Statistics. Avoidable mortality refers to premature deaths (≤ 75 years old) for which there is reasonable scientific consensus that they should not occur in the presence of timely health care. In large urban, small urban, and rural areas, annual age-standardized mortality rates from avoidable causes and from all other causes of death were calculated from 2003 to 2019. The annual percentage change (APC) in the mortality rate in each area was estimated using linear regression models and taking age-standardized mortality rates as dependent variable. Results Mortality rates decreased between the beginning and the end of the period analysed. Large urban areas and rural areas showed the largest and smallest reduction in mortality rate respectively. The APC in avoidable mortality was −3.5% in men and −3.0% in women in large urban areas, and −2.7% in men and −2.6% in women in rural areas. The APC in the mortality rate from all other causes of death was −2.4% in men and −1.2% in women in large urban areas, and −1.4% in men and −1.0% in women in rural areas. Conclusion In Spain, avoidable mortality and mortality from other causes of death in rural and urban areas show similar trends, which suggests the presence of a common factor responsible for such findings.

Background: Following the 2008 economic crisis many countries implemented austerity policies, including reducing public spending on health services. This paper evaluates the trends and equity in the use of health services during and after that period in Spain – a country with austerity policies – and in Germany – a country without restriction on healthcare spending. Methods: Data from several National Surveys in Spain and several waves of the Socio-Economic Panel in Germany, carried out between 2009 and 2017, were used. The dependent variables were number of doctor’s consultations and whether or not a hospital admission occurred. The measure of socioeconomic position was education. In each year, the estimates were made for people with and without pre-existing health problems. First, the average number of doctor’s consultations and the percentage of respondents who had had been hospitalized were calculated. Second, the relationship between education and use of those health services was estimated by calculating the difference in consultations using covariance analysis – in the case of number of consultations – and by calculating the percentage ratio using binomial regression – in the case of hospitalization. Results: The annual mean number of consultations went down in both countries. In Spain the average was 14.2 in 2009 and 10.4 in 2017 for patients with chronic conditions; 16.6 and 13.5 for those with a mental illness; and 6.4 and 5.9 for those without a defined illness. In Germany, the averages were 13.8 (2009) and 12.9 (2017) for the chronic group; 21.1 and 17.0 for mental illness; and 8.7 and 7.5 with no defined illness. The hospitalization frequency also decreased in both countries. The majority of the analyses presented no significant differences in relation to education. Conclusion: In both Spain and Germany, service use decreased between 2009 and 2017. In the first few years, this reduction coincided with a period of austerity in Spain. In general, we did no

Background: We studied the frequency of physician visits in the native and immigrant populations in Spain before and after implementation of a governmental measure to restrict the use of public healthcare services by undocumented immigrants beginning in 2012. Methods: Data were taken from the 2009 and 2014 European Health Surveys carried out in Spain. We investigated any physician consultation in the last 4 weeks before the interview, as well as visits to a family physician, public specialist physician and private specialist physician. We estimated the frequency of visits in 2009 and in 2014 in the native and immigrant populations and the difference in the frequency between the two populations, by calculating the percentage ratio estimated by binomial regression and adjusted for different confounders that are indicators of the need for assistance. Results: The percentage of persons who consulted any physician in 2009 and 2014 was 31.7 and 32.9% in the native population, and 25.6 and 30.1% in the immigrant population, respectively. In the immigrant population, the frequency of visits to the general practitioner and public specialist physician increased, whereas in the native population only public specialist physician visits increased. The frequency of private specialist visits remained stable in both populations. After adjusting for the indicators of need for healthcare, no significant differences between the immigrant and native populations were seen in the frequency of visits, except for private specialist consultations, which were less frequent among immigrants. Conclusion: The restriction of universal healthcare coverage in Spain did not reduce the frequency of physician visits between 2009 and 2014, as the frequency of these consultations was seen to increase in both the native and immigrant populations.

Background: In Germany copayment for medical consultation was eliminated in 2013, and in Spain universal health coverage was partly restricted in 2012. This study shows the relationship between income and the use of health services before and after these measures in each country. Methods: Data were taken from the 2009 and 2014 Socio-Economic Panel conducted in Germany, and from the 2009 and 2014 European Health Surveys in Spain. The health services investigated were physician consultations and hospital admissions, and the measure of socioeconomic position used was household income. The magnitude of the relationship between socioeconomic position and the use of each health service in people from 16 to 74 years old was estimated by calculating the percentage ratio using binary regression. Results: In Germany, after adjusting for age, sex, and need for care, in the model comparing the two lower income categories to the two higher categories, the percentage ratio for physician consultation was 0.97 (95% CI 0.96–0.99) in 2009 and 0.98 (95% CI 0.97–0.99) in 2014, and the percentage ratio for hospitalization was 1.01 (95% CI 0.93–1.10) in 2009 and 1.16 (95% CI 1.08–1.25) in 2014. In Spain, after adjusting for age, sex, and self-rated health, the percentage ratio for physician consultation was 0.99 (95% CI 0.94–1.05) in 2009 and 1.08 (95% CI 1.03–1.14) in 2014, and the percentage ratio for hospitalization was 1.04 (95% CI 0.92–1.18) in 2009 and 0.99 (95% CI 0.87–1.14) in 2014. Conclusion: The results suggest that elimination of the copayment in Germany did not change the frequency of physician consultations, whereas after the restriction of universal health coverage in Spain, subjects with lower incomes had a higher frequency of physician consultations.