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Objective. To determine whether rates of physician visits for ambulatory care sensitive (ACS) conditions are lower for people of lowsocioeconomic status than of highsocioeconomic status in an urban population with universal health care coverage.

Data Sources/Study Setting. Physician claims and hospital discharge abstracts from fiscal years 1998 to 2001 for urban residents of Manitoba, Canada. The 1996 Canadian Census public use database provided neighborhood household income information. The study included all continuously enrolled urban residents in the Manitoba Health Services Insurance Plan.

Study Design. Twelve ACS conditions definable using 3digit ICD9CM codes permitted crosssectional and longitudinal comparison of ambulatory visits and hospitalizations. Neighborhood household income data provided a measure of socioeconomic status.

Data Collection/Extraction Methods. Files …