The Relationship between Life Satisfaction and Hospitalizations for Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions: A Population Cohort Study

Life satisfaction (LS) has been shown to be inversely related to negative health outcomes such as morbidity and mortality. Ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSC) are conditions for which timely and effective outpatient care can prevent acute episodes. This study is a prospective population-based cohort study of adults from Ontario that tests the hypothesis that poor life satisfaction is associated with an increased risk of avoidable hospitalizations. Weighted distributions of demographic, socioeconomic, health status and behaviour characteristics according to ACSCs and life satisfaction were calculated. Proportional hazards models associated with baseline life satisfaction were used to calculate the risk of preventable hospitalizations. Joint effects models were used to see if socioeconomic status (SES) modified this relationship. Men, the elderly and those with lower household income were more likely to be hospitalized with an ACSC. After controlling for age, sex, SES, and lifestyle factors, poor LS had a strong relationship with hospitalizations for ACSCs (HR = 2.42, pM.Sc