Healthcare utilization of patients with epilepsy in Yuma County, Arizona: Do disparities exist?

The aim of this study was to describe the disparities in healthcare utilization and costs between Hispanic and non-Hispanic patients with seizures or epilepsy. We reviewed the insurance status and healthcare resource utilization data from 2005 to 2008 for all patients with seizures and epilepsy seen at the Yuma Regional Medical Center (YRMC). Charges for medical services provided to Hispanic patients with epilepsy between the ages of 18 and 49 were significantly less than those for non-Hispanic patients with epilepsy (Hispanic: $3167.63 versus non-Hispanic: $5154.36, P < 0.001). Taking into account the differences in insurance status, setting of care, and total number of procedures, we still saw a significant difference in charges between the two groups at the outpatient settings. These data differ from currently available data on national and Eastern US Hispanic patients with epilepsy, suggesting that patients in this border community are somehow different from Hispanics elsewhere in the US.