How does hospital utilization vary according to a person's age, gender, and socioeconomic status?
Hospital utilization increases with age. For example, the elderly age 85 and over have the highest utilization. Among younger age groups, children under 1 year of age have the highest utilization. In general, females incur higher use of hospital services than men do, even after childbirth-related utilization is factored out. Generally, hospital use is higher among people of lower socioeconomic status (SES) than the more affluent because poorer population groups are generally in poorer health and have less access to routine primary care.