Comorbidity and healthcare use for individuals with CVD in the Ireland: a cross-sectional, population-based study

OBJECTIVE: This study explores the factors associated with health service use for individuals with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and comorbidity in the Ireland. DESIGN: Population-based cross-sectional survey. SETTING: Nationally representative health and health service use survey from the 2010 Quarterly National Household Survey was analysed. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Four outcome variables were examined: no CVD, CVD only, CVD with CVD-related comorbidities and CVD with non-CVD-related comorbidity. RESULTS: Of the 791 individuals reporting doctor-diagnosed CVD, 77% had a second morbidity. Using type of healthcare coverage as a proxy for socioeconomic status, both CVD-related and non CVD-related comorbidity increases the use of health service usage substantially for individuals with CVD, particularly general practitioner services (8.47, CI 4.49 to 15.96 and 5.20, CI 2.10 to 12.84) and inpatient public hospital care (3.64, CI 2.93 to 4.51 and 3.00, CI 2.11 to 4.26). CONCLUSION: This study indicated that even when demographic and socioeconomic factors are controlled for, comorbidity significantly increases the risk of accessing health services for individuals with CVD.