Socioeconomic determinants of rates of consultation in general practice based on fourth national morbidity survey of general practices

Abstract
Key messages Characteristics of individual patients are much more powerful predictors of consulting patterns than the characteristics of the areas in which patients liveThe effects of individual socioeconomic factors themselves vary in different geographical areasResource allocation methods based on area of residence (for example, Jarman score) will always be inferior to an approach that takes into account the characteristics of individual patients Key messages Characteristics of individual patients are much more powerful predictors of consulting patterns than the characteristics of the areas in which patients liveThe effects of individual socioeconomic factors themselves vary in different geographical areasResource allocation methods based on area of residence (for example, Jarman score) will always be inferior to an approach that takes into account the characteristics of individual patients