The utilization of general hospitals by occupational groups in Finland

The utilization of general hospitals in Finland in 1974 was studied according to occupational groups. The material was based on two registers; the register of hospital utilization kept by the National Board of Health and the register for the Population and Housing Census prepared by the Central Statistical Office in Finland. The differences in hospital utilization do not depend only on differences in morbidity; hospital utilization is also associated with the availability of services and with the illness behaviour of the people--factors which also differ from occupational group to occupational group. The utilization of hospital services was quantified by recording the number of patients discharged from hospitals. The highest age-standardized utilization by males was found in industry (186/1000 population), being 1.6 times greater than in administration, 1.4 times greater than in agriculture, 1.3 times greater than in transport and services and 1.1 times greater than in sales. The greatest utilization by females was found in sales (262/1000 population and in industry (239/1000 population), being 1.3 times greater in sales than in administration. Differences between occupational groups were generally smaller than among males. The utilization of hospital services was compared with mortality in these occupational groups. There is a rather strong positive correlation (r = 0.7) between hospital utilization and mortality in males. In agriculture the utilization was lower than average in comparison with mortality. In administration and industry the utilization was at the same level as mortality.