Læknablaðið - 15.09.2002, Side 23

FRÆÐIGREINAR / BIÐLISTAR, KYN, ALDUR
Samanburður á viðdvöl fólks á
eftir aldri og kyni
biðlistum
Steinunn
Þórðardóttir1'2
Matthías
Halldórsson1
Sigurður
Guðmundsson1
'Landlæknisembættið,
dæknadeild Háskóla íslands.
Fyrirspurnir og bréfaskipti:
Steinunn Þórðardóttir,
Landlæknisembættinu,
Laugavegi 116,150 Reykjavík.
Sími: 510-1927,
steitho@hi.is
Lykilorð: biðlistar, biðtími,
kyn, aldur.
Ágrip
Tilgangur: Lengd biðlista hefur löngum þótt allgóður
mælikvarði á gæði heilbrigðisþjónustu. Engar ís-
lenskar tölfræðirannsóknir liggja þó fyrir um biðtíma
mismunandi hópa á biðlistum og hugsanlegan mun
þar á. Hentugt þótti að framkvæma slíka rannsókn
hjá Landlæknisembættinu enda berast þangað bið-
listaupplýsingar þrisvar á ári. Kannað var hvort mark-
tækur munur fyndist við samanburð á biðtíma kynja
annars vegar og mismunandi aldurshópa hins vegar.
Efniviður og aðferðir: Valdir voru lengstu biðlistarnir
sem bárust Landlæknisembættinu í maí árið 2001 og
voru þeir með 400 sjúklingum eða fleirum. Á hverj-
um þessara lista var síðan fundin sú aðgerð sem flest-
ir biðu eftir og sá sjúklingahópur athugaður nánar.
Deildir og aðgerðir sem þannig lentu í rannsókninni
voru: Almenn skurðdeild Landspítala háskólasjúkra-
húss (LSH) Hringbraut (aðgerð til að stöðva bak-
flæði úr maga í vélindi í kviðarholsspeglun), augn-
deild LSH Hringbraut (augasteinsþeyting með ísetn-
ingu gerivaugasteins í framhólf auga), bæklunardeild
LSH (frumendurnýjun mjaðmarliðar að fullu, með
EN6LISH SUMMARY
Þórðardóttir S, Halldórsson M, Guðmundsson S
Gender and age differences in waiting time
on hospital waiting lists
Læknablaðið 2002; 88: 635-9
Objective: The size of waiting lists has traditionally been
viewed as a fairly good measure of the quality of health
care services. No statistical analysis exists in lceland of the
length of waiting times and the potential variation between
groups of patients.
This study was conducted within the office of the Direc-
torate of Health in lceland. This location was convenient
since standardized information on waiting lists is collected
by the office three times a year. Variations in waiting times
were studied based on gender on the one hand and on
age on the other.
Material and method: Data from the largest waiting lists,
those amounting to 400 or more patients, were included in
the study. The most frequently awaited operations were
identified and the groups of people waiting for them
analyzed. The departments and prospective operations
included in the study were: Dept. of General Surgery at the
University Hospital (UH) (laparoscopic gastro-oesophageal
antireflux operation), Opthalmology at UH (phakoemulsifi-
cation with implantation of artificial lens in posterior
chamber), Orthopedic Surgery at UH (primary total
prosthetic replacement of hip joint using sement), The
Rehabilitation Center at Reykjalundur (rehabilitation, not
specified), Ear Nose & Throat (ENT) at UH (tonsillectomy),
liðgervi, með sementi), Reykjalundur (endurhæfing),
háls-, nef og eyrnadeild LSH Fossvogi (hálskirtla-
taka) og lýtalækningadeild LSH Hringbraut (brjóst-
lögun með minnkun brjósts og tilfærslu geirvörtu-
reits). Á öllum listunum var sjúklingunum skipt niður
í karla og konur annars vegar og eldri og yngri hóp
hins vegar (reynt var að hafa aldurshópana jafnstóra
innan hvers biðlista). Kannað var hvort marktækur
munur fyndist við samanburð á biðtíma hópanna
(samkvæmt Mann-Whitney prófi), auk þess að mið-
gildi biðtíma hvers hóps var fundið.
Niðurstöður: Á almennri skurðdeild var miðgildi
biðar karla 73 vikur en kvenna 60 vikur. Þetta var
eina deildin þar sem karlar biðu marktækt lengur en
konur (p<0,05). Eldri hópurinn beið lengur en yngri
hópurinn á þremur deildanna, augndeild (18 vikur á
móti 14 vikum, p<0,001), Reykjalundi (26 vikur á
móti 17 vikum, p<0,025) og háls-, nef- og eyrnadeild
(33 vikur á móti 21, p<0,01). Konur biðu aftur á móti
marktækt lengur en karlar á tveimur stöðum,
Reykjalundi (21 vika á móti 17 vikum, p<0,05) og
and Reconstructive Surgery at UH (reduction mammo-
plasty with transposition of areola).
The lists were sorted by gender and age, with the latter
consisting of two categories, older and younger patients.
Every attempt was made as to ensure similar sample sizes
for both age groups within each department. Finally, the
median waiting time was determined and a Mann-Whitney
test conducted in order to test for significance.
Results: The median waiting time for males at the General
Surgery Dept. was 73 weeks as compared to 60 weeks for
females. This was the only department where the median
waiting time was significantly longer for males than for
females (p<0.05). At three of the departments the older
group had a longer median waiting time than the younger
group, 18 weeks compared to 14 at Opthalmology
(p<0.001), 26 versus 17 weeks at Reykjalundur (p<0.025)
and 33 versus 21 weeks at ENT (p<0.01). Waiting times for
females was significantly longer than for males at two
departments, Reykjalundur (21 vs. 17 weeks, p<0.05) and
ENT (33 vs. 29 weeks, p<0.05).
Conclusion: This study revealed age and gender differen-
ces in median waiting times at lcelandic hospitals. These
differences were in many cases marked and statistically
significant. Various explanations have been put forward,
however, further research is needed in order to determine if
it these differences are due to actual clinical needs
assessments or to age or gender discrimination.
Keywords: waiting lists, waiting time, gender, age.
Correspondance: Steinunn Þórðardóttir, steitho@hi.is
Læknablaðið 2002/88 635