Moreno Lostao, Almudena

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Moreno Lostao

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Almudena

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Sociología y Trabajo Social

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Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • PublicationOpen Access
    Trends and equity in the use of health services in Spain and Germany around austerity in Europe
    (BMC, 2021) Moreno Lostao, Almudena; Lostao Unzu, Lourdes; Beller, Johannes; Sperlich, Stefanie; Ronda, Elena; Geyer, Siegfried; Pulido, José; Regidor Poyatos, Enrique; Soziologia eta Gizarte Lana; Institute for Advanced Social Research - ICOMMUNITAS; Sociología y Trabajo Social
    Background: following the 2008 economic crisis many countries implemented austerity policies, including reducing public spending on health services. This paper evaluates the trends and equity in the use of health services during and after that period in Spain - a country with austerity policies - and in Germany - a country without restriction on healthcare spending. Methods: data from several National Surveys in Spain and several waves of the Socio-Economic Panel in Germany, carried out between 2009 and 2017, were used. The dependent variables were number of doctor's consultations and whether or not a hospital admission occurred. The measure of socioeconomic position was education. In each year, the estimates were made for people with and without pre-existing health problems. First, the average number of doctor's consultations and the percentage of respondents who had had been hospitalized were calculated. Second, the relationship between education and use of those health services was estimated by calculating the difference in consultations using covariance analysis - in the case of number of consultations - and by calculating the percentage ratio using binomial regression - in the case of hospitalization. Results: the annual mean number of consultations went down in both countries. In Spain the average was 14.2 in 2009 and 10.4 in 2017 for patients with chronic conditions; 16.6 and 13.5 for those with a mental illness; and 6.4 and 5.9 for those without a defined illness. In Germany, the averages were 13.8 (2009) and 12.9 (2017) for the chronic group; 21.1 and 17.0 for mental illness; and 8.7 and 7.5 with no defined illness. The hospitalization frequency also decreased in both countries. The majority of the analyses presented no significant differences in relation to education. Conclusion: in both Spain and Germany, service use decreased between 2009 and 2017. In the first few years, this reduction coincided with a period of austerity in Spain. In general, we did not find socioeconomic differences in health service use.
  • PublicationOpen Access
    Assessing educational disparities in COVID-19 related excess mortality in Spain: a population register-linked mortality study
    (Frontiers Media, 2024-08-27) Pulido, José; Donat, Marta; Moreno Lostao, Almudena; Politi, Julieta; Cea-Soriano, Lucía; Sordo, Luis; Mateo-Urdiales, Alberto; Ronda, Elena; Belza, María José; Barrio, Gregorio; Regidor Poyatos, Enrique; Sociología y Trabajo Social; Soziologia eta Gizarte Lana
    Introduction: data on the increase in mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic based on individuals' socioeconomic positions are limited. This study examines this increase in mortality in Spain during the epidemic waves of 2020 and 2021. Methods: we calculated the overall and cause-specific mortality rates during the 2017-2019 pre-pandemic period and four epidemic periods in 2020 and 2021 (first, second, third-fourth, and fifth-sixth waves). Mortality rates were analyzed based on educational levels (low, medium, and high) and across various age groups (25–64, 65–74, and 75+). The increase in mortality during each epidemic period compared to the pre-pandemic period was estimated using mortality rate ratios (MRR) derived from Poisson regression models. Results: an inverse educational gradient in overall mortality was observed across all periods; however, this pattern was not consistent for COVID-19 mortality in some age groups. Among those aged 75 years and older, highly educated individuals showed higher COVID-19 mortality during the first wave. In the 25-64 age group, individuals with low education experienced the highest overall mortality increase, while those with high education had the lowest increase. The MRRs were 1.21 and 1.06 during the first wave and 1.12 and 0.97 during the last epidemic period. In the 65–74 age group, highly educated individuals showed the highest overall mortality increase during the first wave, whereas medium-educated individuals had the highest increase during the subsequent epidemic periods. Among those aged 75 and older, highly educated individuals exhibited the highest overall mortality increase while the individuals with low education showed the lowest overall mortality increment, except during the last epidemic period. Conclusion: the varying educational patterns of COVID-19 mortality across different age groups contributed to the disparities of findings in increased overall mortality by education levels during the COVID-19 pandemic.