The urgent need for valid data on access to healthcare in Europe

Abstract

The probability of experiencing an unmet need for medical or dental care can be expressed either (a) as a proportion of the whole population studied or (b) as a proportion of those who had a need. Only (b) yields a valid measure of access to care. Using (a) combines access to care with state of health. Unfortunately, the main data source used by researchers (the European Union Survey of Income and Living Conditions, EU-SILC) uses method (a), rendering the literature to date subject to unknown errors. The authors argue that there is an urgent need for Eurostat to publish data using method (b).