Use of health care services by ethnic minorities in The Netherlands: do patterns differ? The European Journal of Public Health

Background: This article examines the nature of ethnic differences in health care utilisation by assessing patterns of use in addition to single service utilisation. Methods: Data were derived from the Second Dutch National Survey of General Practice. A nationally representative sample of 104 general practices participated in this survey. Data on health and health service utilisation were collected through face-to-face interviews. Based on a random sample per practice, a total of 12 699 Dutch-speaking people were interviewed, regardless of ethnic background. An additional study among a random sample of 1339 people from the four largest minority groups in The Netherlands was conducted. These four group