| Abstract |
During the period of the worse financial crisis after the post-war years in Greece, there is a significant number of patients with low social-economic status who suffer from chronic diseases and have no access to medical services. This group of people has increased demands in medical care and follow up. The aim if this study is to gain better insight in the needs of medical services towards those with low income who suffer from chronic diseases.
The patients with low income and without the possibility of having regular medical access near their residence, after a written request they were examined and reviewed by General Practitioners (GPs) and trainee doctors in a Primary Care Unit at the area of the district hospital of Herakleion, Crete.
They were also supported by nurses, a health care assistant, a dietician and a psychologist and all of them volunteered to offer a holistic approach of the health problems of the community.
After the first medical appointment, their medical visits were registered from April till September 2011. The completion of their medical folder included systematic registration of their demographic and biometrical indexes, their chronic diseases and their medical therapy. The data were registered as electronic data and were analyzed later on. The results of the research showed that the patients who live in deprived areas will suffer significantly more from the recession.
What is interesting throughout this investigation is that there is a sexual dimorphism (is the characteristic differences in form between males and females) in our population. A second rather important section was that of correlations relating to cardiovascular disease. In female or male population heart rate was positively correlated with body mass index (BMI), and diastolic blood pressure and negatively correlated with O2 saturation levels. BMI was also negatively correlated with O2 saturation levels.
Finally, we tried to identify any correlations between numerous musculoskeletal indexes. Again sexual dimorphism in the responses was evident, with females demonstrating no correlations at all. However, in males, there was a significant positive correlation between osteoarthritis with: smoking, rheumatic disease and musculoskeletal syndromes. When we looked at psycho-emotional indexes the only significant positive correlation in males was between sleep disorders and the number of panic attacks whereas in females there were numerous correlations.
The health inequalities caused by recession can increase the severity of some diseases rather than their frequency. The lack of capacity to recognize the problems in health inequalities could produce increased morbidity and mortality compared to those who are financially in a more beneficial situation. There can be inequalities depending on the politics applied on the health system, the type of health system and the geographical distribution of the deprived population.
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Κοινωνικές ανισότητες στην υγεία : Η συμβολή του πανεπιστημίου των ορέων Ηράκλειο, Κρήτη
