SEX-DIFFERENCES IN THE USE OF HEALTH-CARE SERVICES

Background Sex differences in the use of health care services can be s ubstantial at several stages of life. However, the extent to which dif ferences in reproductive biology and mortality affect the use of healt h care services is unclear. Methods We studied age- and sex-specific p er capita use of health care resources for a one-year period during 19 94 and 1995 in the Canadian province of Manitoba, where there is unive rsal insurance for a comprehensive range of health care services. Usin g information obtained from administrative records of physicians' serv ices and acute hospital care, we tabulated the use of health care reso urces by male and female subjects in three categories: care for condit ions specific to sex, care provided to persons who died during the stu dy year, and care provided for all other conditions. Results The crude annual per capita use of health care resources tin Canadian dollars) was greater for female subjects ($1,164) than for male subjects ($918) . Approximately 22 percent of health care expenditures for female subj ects was associated with conditions specific to sex, including pregnan cy and childbirth, as compared with 3 percent of expenditures for male subjects. An estimated 14 percent of health care expenditures for mal e subjects was consumed by persons who died during the study period, a s compared with 10 percent of expenditures for female subjects. After adjustment for the use of health care associated with sex-specific con ditions and differences in mortality, the female:male ratio in health care expenditures was reduced from 1.3 to 1.0. Conclusions Expenditure s for health care are similar for male and female subjects after diffe rences in reproductive biology and higher age-specific mortality rates among men have been accounted for. (C) 1998, Massachusetts Medical So ciety.