Social inequalities in patient experiences with general practice and in access to specialists: the population-based HUNT Study

Table 2 Utilization of general practitioner and specialist services by education and household income

	General practitioner				Specialist services
	Probability of at least one visit		Number of visits		Probability of at least one visit		Number of visits
	RII^a	CI 95%	RII^a	CI 95%	RII^a	CI 95%	RII^a	CI 95%
Education	1.02	(0.99-1.05)	1.06	(1.00-1.12)	0.83	(0.75-0.91)	0.62	(0.57-0.62)
Household income	1.00	(0.97-1.02)	0.99	(0.94-1.04)	0.87	(0.80-0.96)	0.74	(0.68-0.74)
	PP^a	CI 95%	PP^a	CI 95%	PP^a	CI 95%	PP^a	CI 95%
Education
Primary	0.91	(0.90-0.92)	3.37	(3.27-3.46)	0.49	(0.47-0.52)	1.26	(1.20-1.26)
Secondary	0.91	(0.90-0.92)	3.51	(3.44-3.57)	0.49	(0.48-0.51)	1.42	(1.38-1.42)
Tertiary	0.90	(0.88-0.91)	3.21	(3.11-3.31)	0.57	(0.54-0.60)	1.80	(1.73-1.80)
Household income
Poorest	0.91	(0.89-0.92)	3.33	(3.23-3.42)	0.47	(0.45-0.50)	1.25	(1.19-1.25)
2nd quartile	0.90	(0.89-0.92)	3.49	(3.40-3.58)	0.51	(0.49-0.54)	1.44	(1.33-1.44)
3rd quartile	0.91	(0.89-0.92)	3.45	(3.35-3.54)	0.53	(0.51-0.56)	1.59	(1.52-1.59)
Richest	0.91	(0.89-0.92)	3.36	(3.27-3.46)	0.52	(0.50-0.55)	1.58	(1.51-1.58)

^a Poisson regression was used for all measures, and with robust error variance for probabilities of at least one visit. Predicted probabilities (PP) were calculated from the corresponding regressions, using categorical variables for education and household income instead of the RII-variable. All estimates were adjusted for self-reported health, age, gender and municipality size.
Relative index of inequality (RII) and predicted probabilities (PP). Men and women aged 20 years and above. N = 6,067. The HUNT Study, 2006–08.

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