Patient statistics, 2002

More men than women were treated for injury and poisoning, 56 per cent. In total, more women than men received out-patient care. For women, diseases in the musculoskeletal system were the most frequent cause for treatment, followed by injuries and poisoning and tumors (mainly cancer). Next to injury and poisoning, cardiovascular diseases were the most common cause for treatment for men.

In total there were almost 3,080,000 polyclinical consultations at general hospitals during 2002, 3,045,000 at hospitals owned by the central government or hospitals that have agreements with a Regional Health Enterprise. At private hospitals there were almost 35,000 consultations.

The apparent decline in the number of out-patients consultations from previous years, is due to the exclusion of some day cases from the rest of the polyclinical activity, and that there have been changes in the overall data. From 2002 on, the statistics are based on the Norwegian Patient Register with the exception of private hospitals. Prior to this - data were collected by Statistics Norway, based on the number of consultations at clinical wards in hospitals.

No changes have taken place in the number of in-patient stays, 741,000, or in day treatments, 359, 000, since the preliminary 2002 figures were released. For more information, see the previous article . A comprehensive table on the subject has since then been made accessible in "StatBank Norway".

Tables:

• Table 1 Number of out-patient consultations at general hospitals, by health region. 2002
• Table 2 Out-patient consultations at public hospitals, by sex and diagnosis. 2002
• Table 3 Out-patient consultations at public hospitals, by age, sex and diagnosis. 2002