TY - JOUR
T1 - Socioeconomic inequalities in risk of hospitalization for community-acquired bacteremia
T2 - A Danish population-based case-control study
AU - Koch, Kristoffer
AU - Søgaard, Mette
AU - Nørgaard, Mette
AU - Thomsen, Reimar Wernich
AU - Schønheyder, Henrik Carl
AU - Danish Collaborative Bacteremia Network
PY - 2014/5/1
Y1 - 2014/5/1
N2 - In a Danish population-based case-control study, we examined the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and risk of community-acquired bacteremia, as well as the contribution of chronic diseases and substance abuse to differences in bacteremia risk. Analyses were based on 4,117 patients aged 30-65 years who were hospitalized with first-time community-acquired bacteremia during 2000-2008 and 41,170 population controls matched by sex, age, and region of residence. Individual-level information on SES (education and income), chronic diseases, and substance abuse was retrieved from public and medical registries. Conditional logistic regression was used to compute odds ratios for bacteremia. Persons of low SES had a substantially higher risk of bacteremia than those of high SES (for short duration of education vs. long duration, odds ratio = 2.30 (95% confidence interval: 2.10, 2.52); for low income vs. high income, odds ratio = 2.77 (95% confidence interval: 2.54, 3.02)). A higher prevalence of chronic diseases and substance abuse in low-SES individuals versus high-SES individuals explained 43%-48% of the socioeconomic differences in bacteremia risk. In a country with a universal welfare system, differences in the burden of chronic diseases and substance abuse seem to have major importance in explaining inequalities in bacteremia risk.
AB - In a Danish population-based case-control study, we examined the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and risk of community-acquired bacteremia, as well as the contribution of chronic diseases and substance abuse to differences in bacteremia risk. Analyses were based on 4,117 patients aged 30-65 years who were hospitalized with first-time community-acquired bacteremia during 2000-2008 and 41,170 population controls matched by sex, age, and region of residence. Individual-level information on SES (education and income), chronic diseases, and substance abuse was retrieved from public and medical registries. Conditional logistic regression was used to compute odds ratios for bacteremia. Persons of low SES had a substantially higher risk of bacteremia than those of high SES (for short duration of education vs. long duration, odds ratio = 2.30 (95% confidence interval: 2.10, 2.52); for low income vs. high income, odds ratio = 2.77 (95% confidence interval: 2.54, 3.02)). A higher prevalence of chronic diseases and substance abuse in low-SES individuals versus high-SES individuals explained 43%-48% of the socioeconomic differences in bacteremia risk. In a country with a universal welfare system, differences in the burden of chronic diseases and substance abuse seem to have major importance in explaining inequalities in bacteremia risk.
KW - Adult
KW - Aged
KW - Bacteremia
KW - Case-Control Studies
KW - Chronic Disease
KW - Community-Acquired Infections
KW - Denmark
KW - Emigrants and Immigrants
KW - Female
KW - Health Status Disparities
KW - Healthcare Disparities
KW - Hospitalization
KW - Humans
KW - Male
KW - Middle Aged
KW - Prevalence
KW - Risk Assessment
KW - Socioeconomic Factors
KW - Substance-Related Disorders
U2 - 10.1093/aje/kwu032
DO - 10.1093/aje/kwu032
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 24682527
SN - 0002-9262
VL - 179
SP - 1096
EP - 1106
JO - American Journal of Epidemiology
JF - American Journal of Epidemiology
IS - 9
ER -