Disparities in Regular Health Care Utilisation in Europe

Despite common recommendations and quasi universal health care coverage in all European countries, there are large differences in the utilisation patterns of different health services. Little comparative information is available on different types of health service utilisation and variations in utilisation patterns over a longer time span. The objective of this study is to compare and investigate individual and cross-country determinants of health care utilisation habits over the life span across European countries. We found that while there is a general shift toward more regular and preventive care utilisation in all countries; there are still significant social inequalities between countries and cohorts. There is also evidence that once the individual effects have been isolated, cross-cohort and country differences in the prevalence of regular care use are partly associated with differences in welfare states interventions.