Socioeconomically deprived patients may be waiting longer for cardiac surgery than the more well-to-do, according to a retrospective cohort study of 26,642 patients conducted by Dr Jill Pell (department of cardiology, Glasgow Royal infirmary) and colleagues.
The researchers found that the most deprived patients, assessed using Carstairs socioeconomic deprivation categories, waited, on average, three weeks longer for cardiac surgery than patients in the least deprived category.
They comment that socioeconomically deprived patients are thought to be more likely to develop coronary heart disease but are less likely than patients in higher social categories to be investigated and offered surgery once it has developed.
Such patients may be further disadvantaged by having to wait longer for surgery because they are given lower priority, the authors conclude. The report is in the British Medical Journal (1999;319:5).