Another Look at Emergency Room Overcrowding: Accessibility of the Health Services and Quality of Care

PURPOSE: To describe both the social characteristics and the health needs of the medical users of a pediatric hospital Emergency Room with special emphasis on frequent use. STUDY SELECTION: Observational study on health services utilization and health care needs of young children consulting at a teaching hospital's Emergency Room. DATA SOURCES: Mother interview and medical record review. RESULTS OF DATA SYNTHESIS: Children from underprivileged strata are more often high Emergency Room users. Their preventive needs are satisfied but adequate follow-up of their medical problems is more often lacking. CONCLUSION: To understand why some achievable benefits are not achieved it is necessary to evaluate the varying performance of health services according to the social origin of the users.