Does the number of doctor visits actually decrease?

Statistics: Germans go to the doctor only ten times a year?

12/04/2013

Recently, patients had to wait a long time in overcrowded waiting rooms for an appointment with the doctor, the message seems doubtful that doctor visits in Germany are declining. However, this is the analysis that is derived from a statistic.

Allegedly gone doctor visits
The „image“-Newspaper reported today: „The number of doctor visits decreases!“ On average, citizens in Germany visited the doctor ten times; in 1995, there were 13 visits. The report was triggered by data from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), which is located at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW). Loud „image“ the experts of the DIW speak of one „significant decline“, Among other things, in a better provision, such as dentists, justified. In addition, medical visits would be omitted because patients, unlike in previous years, have to pay for numerous drugs themselves. The seemingly convincing results lose on closer inspection something in their information content. Because: It's not about a study visit to a doctor. Rather, the data come from a long-term study with several different focuses. On behalf of the DIW, more than 20,000 people are surveyed every year on topics such as education, income, employment, living conditions and health.

Questionable methods
Of the almost 150 pages on the long-term examination, the data on the number of visits to the doctor is only one page. („“) The number of visits to the doctor during the last three months is recorded by persons over the age of 17 years. But it is not clear which months they are. Compared to the online magazine stern.de confirmed a DIW employee: „The data are collected in the first half of the year, one can not say which three months are recorded in the individual years. "But this would be a very important information, as it may come in the so-called influenza months, for example, more doctor visits The news article simply took the three-month data four times to count on the annual number of doctor visits, which is a highly questionable method and should be viewed critically.

No new trend recognizable
The data of the Socioeconomic Panel reveals no new trend, but the values ​​only slightly fluctuating. The average number of visits to doctors in the last three months of 2004 was 2.52. Since then, the number has fluctuated slightly and is currently at 2.49. However, the data were surprised that Germans had a reputation for going to the doctor more often. The Barmer GEK reported in its 2010 Physician Report that insureds averaged 18.1 times a year in 2008 a registered doctor compared to 2004, there were only 16.4 doctor visits per person.

Health insurance data or DIW statistics, which numbers are correct?
The question arises as to what numbers are right and how the differences will come about. From the DIW states: „The truth is probably somewhere in between. "It also plays a role, what is considered as a doctor's contact and how they are recorded.The study participants who were interviewed on behalf of the DIW had to answer quite generally, how often they were at the doctor. „The number could be therefore also tends to be underestimated. "The opinion from the DIW.The sometimes significantly higher values ​​to which the health insurance companies come, can also be explained by the fact that they relate specifically to the statements of health insurance Bundesvereinigung (KBV), Andres Köhler, doubted to the AF news agency that patients in Germany are now in fact much less likely to go to the doctor, and from the number of general visits it is also difficult to know about the visits per citizen It was reported that about 16 percent of insured persons claimed about half of all doctor contacts, and these patients, often suffering from chronic illnesses or serious illnesses such as cancer or diabetes, were more likely to be affected an increase in statistics. (ad)

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