Consultation charges in Ireland deter a large proportion of patients from seeing the GP: Results of a cross-sectional survey

Figures & data

Box 1. Cost avoidance question.

Cost avoidance question:
“During the past 12 months, was there a time when you had a specific medical problem and did not visit the doctor due to the cost?”
Responses:
1. Yes	2. No	3. Not appropriate

Figure 1.  Proportion of patients who, in the last year, had a medical problem but did not consult a GP because of cost; according to jurisdiction, age, sex and GMS status.

Table I.  The likelihood of patients in the Republic of Ireland with a health problem not having seen the GP in the previous year because of cost; variations according to household income.

	Income category
	Most affluent	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	Least affluent
Respondents	440	674	827	599	965	834	629
Odds ratio*	1.0	1.82	2.58	4.14	3.06	2.49	1.98
(95% CIs)	—	(1.26, 2.61)	(1.83, 3.64)	(2.90, 5.90)	(2.17, 4.31)	(1.75, 3.55)	(1.34, 2.91)

* Adjusted for age and sex.

Table II.  Socio-economic and health characteristics of paying patients in Ireland who did not consult their GP because of cost; results of fully adjusted multivariate logistic regression.

	Non-GMS patients aged 20–69
Age, years	Adjusted odds ratio	P value*
20–29	1.00	—
30–39	0.84	0.255
40–49	0.52	<0.001
50–59	0.31	<0.001
60–69	0.19	<0.001
Sex
Male	1.00	—
Female	1.25	0.155
Tenure
Owner occupier	1.00	—
Renting	1.79	0.003
Income category
Highest	1.00	—
2^nd	2.07	<0.001
3^rd	2.68	<0.001
4^th	4.96	<0.001
5^th	4.48	<0.001
6^th	5.30	<0.001
Lowest	6.75	<0.001
LLTI
Absent	1.00	—
Present	1.38	0.047
General health
Excellent	1.00	—
Very good	1.24	0.159
Good	1.59	0.002
Fair/poor	2.08	<0.001
Depression
Absent	1.00	—
Present	2.01	<0.001

* Robust confidence intervals were calculated to take account of the clustering of patients within practices.