Indigenous populations of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States of America (USA) experience a higher prevalence of arthritis conditions. Differences in clinical outcomes and mortality may reflect healthcare service use inequities. The objective of this study was to summarize healthcare service use patterns described in the existing literature in order to identify gaps and inform strategies to limit the pronounced negative impact of arthritis on Indigenous populations.
Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, and Indigenous-specific electronic databases (to June 2015) were used to identify cohort, case-control and cross-sectional studies describing healthcare service use by Indigenous populations with specified inflammatory arthritis, osteoarthritis, or rheumatic disease conditions. We extracted information on the study setting and methodology, primary outcome and assessed study quality, and risk of bias.
In total, 19 studies were identified describing three types of healthcare service use: physician visits, hospitalizations, and surgeries. In Canada and New Zealand, Indigenous populations had 36-51% fewer visits to specialists than the non-Indigenous population. Indigenous populations in Canada, New Zealand, and the USA had 37-300% more hospitalizations due to arthritis complications than the non-Indigenous population. Indigenous populations in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand had 27-85% fewer arthroplasties for osteoarthritis than the non-Indigenous population.
Indigenous populations had higher hospitalization rates but lower use of specialized services for arthritis conditions. Strategies to improve access to specialized arthritis services might reduce health outcome inequities.