Social vulnerability and unmet preventive care needs in outpatients of two French public hospitals.

Background: Outpatients attending consultations at public hospitals may have unmet needs for preventive medical care. This study aimed to identify and assess the association between these needs, social vulnerability and mode of healthcare use.

Methods: In a multicentre epidemiological study, a group of socially vulnerable outpatients, was compared with a non-vulnerable group in a sample of 1316 outpatients selected in hospital consultations, using a validated tool for detection of social vulnerability.

[Development of a tool for the identification of socially vulnerable hospital patients].

Objective: To develop and assess the metrological properties of a simple to use tool to identify socially vulnerable outpatients.

Methods: A multidisciplinary group of professionals selected five characteristics identifying social vulnerability, integrated in a self-reported questionnaire, from which 5 criteria identify the socially vulnerable outpatients consulting the hospital. The metrological performance of the tool was assessed on a sample of randomly selected outpatients admitted to the emergency department and the results referred to the independent assessment of two social workers.