Harris D M
Health Serv Res. 1975 Fall;10(3):229-43.
A path analytic test of a causal model linking a county population's demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, the way its hospital services are delivered, and the health care resources available to it with its rate of short-term general hospital utilization is performed using data from 56 New York State counties. The results generally support the model and point to the central importance of an area's hospital bed supply for an understanding of its hospitalization rates. The path analysis reveals the patterns of direct and indirect effects of population and health care environment variables on hospitalization rates and supports the contention that health care environment characteristics intervene between population and hospitalization. The practical implications of these results for those in the health care field are discussed.
利用来自纽约州56个县的数据，对一个因果模型进行了路径分析测试。该模型将一个县人口的人口统计学和社会经济特征、其医院服务的提供方式以及可利用的医疗保健资源与其短期综合医院利用率联系起来。结果总体上支持该模型，并指出一个地区的医院床位供应对于理解其住院率至关重要。路径分析揭示了人口和医疗保健环境变量对住院率的直接和间接影响模式，并支持医疗保健环境特征在人口与住院之间起干预作用的观点。文中还讨论了这些结果对医疗保健领域人员的实际意义。
