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Observational Study
. 2025 Aug 29:99:e202508046.

[Frequency of use of Primary Care and hospital services of the Andalusian Health Service by its user population with Down syndrome in 2022]

[Article in Spanish]
Affiliations
  • PMID: 40879066
Free article
Observational Study

[Frequency of use of Primary Care and hospital services of the Andalusian Health Service by its user population with Down syndrome in 2022]

[Article in Spanish]
Pedro Morera Pérez et al. Rev Esp Salud Publica. .
Free article

Abstract

Objective: Down Syndrome (DS) causes an increase in morbidity due to different organs and systems failures that, together with the increase in life expectancy, cause an increase in the use of health services. The aim of this study was to describe the use of Andalusian Health Service (AHS) resources by DS people in the year 2022.

Methods: An observational, cross-sectional study, with quantitative methodology, of the use of health services of people with DS who used the AHS during the year 2022 was carried out.

Results: The number of people with DS who used AHS during 2022 was 6,851 (8.2/10,000 AHS users); 49.8% of them were women. A total of 89,836 primary care consultations and 21,776 hospital outpatient consultations by DS were carried, which represents an average attendance per person with DS of 13.1 and 3.2 consultations, respectively. The most frequent outpatient consultations of people with DS were in Pediatrics (17.1%), Ophthalmology (11.4%) and Otorhinolaryngology (7.1%) specialities. During 2022, there were a total of 908 hospitalizations in people with DS (frequency of 13.3/100 users). The most frequent cause of admission were respiratory diseases.

Conclusions: The analysis of the frequentation of health services by people with DS provides relevant information for the planning of public health resources in terms of specialised training, multidisciplinary teams, design of protocols and referral circuits, as well as design of public policies.

Objetivo: El Síndrome de Down (SD) provoca un incremento en la morbilidad derivada de la afectación de órganos y sistemas que, junto con el aumento en la esperanza de vida, produce un aumento en la frecuentación de servicios sanitarios. El objetivo de este estudio fue describir la utilización de recursos del Servicio Andaluz de Salud (SAS) de las personas con SD en el año 2022.

Metodos: Se realizó un estudio observacional, transversal, con metodología cuantitativa en el que se realiza un análisis descriptivo de la frecuentación de personas con SD del SAS en el año 2022.

Resultados: El número de personas con SD usuarias del SAS durante el año 2022 fue de 6.851 (8,2 por cada 10.000 usuarios/as del SAS), de las que el 49,8% fueron mujeres. Se realizaron un total de 89.836 consultas de Atención Primaria y 21.776 consultas externas hospitalarias, lo cual supuso una frecuentación media por persona con SD de 13,1 y 3,2 consultas, respectivamente. Las consultas externas más frecuentes de las personas con SD fueron en especialidades de Pediatría (17,1%), Oftalmología (11,4%) y Otorrinolaringología (7,1%). Durante el 2022 se produjeron un total de 908 hospitalizaciones en personas con SD (frecuentación de 13,3 por cada 100 usuarias/os). Los motivos de ingreso más frecuentes fueron por causa respiratoria.

Conclusiones: El análisis de la frecuentación de servicios sanitarios de las personas con SD aporta información relevante para la planificación de los recursos sanitarios públicos en materia de formación especializada, equipos multidisciplinares, diseño de protocolos y circuitos de derivación, así como el diseño de políticas públicas.

Keywords: Down Syndrome; Health Service; Public Health Service; Spain.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

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