Objective: We described the pathologies and health care utilization of beneficiaries of the general health insurance scheme via the Allocation Adulte Handicapé (AAH - Adult Disability Allowance) compared to the general population.
Method: Mapping of pathologies and expenditures allowed the identification of 58 pathologies and chronic treatments in the SNDS, thanks to ICD-10 codes for long-term conditions or hospitalizations, specific drugs or medical procedures, among all beneficiaries of the general health insurance scheme aged 20 to 64 years with reimbursed care (>1€) in 2017. The prevalence and annual rates of care utilization among all beneficiaries of the general scheme via AAH (“AAH” group) and in the rest of the population (“non-AAH”) were standardized and described.
Results: Among the 793,934 (2.51% of the population) “AAH” persons, all the pathologies studied were more frequent than among the “non-AAH”, with 44% having psychiatric pathologies (compared with 3.2%), and 14% a neurological pathology (compared with 1%). AAH beneficiaries were more likely to use hospital care (63% versus 40%), but less likely to use specialist care (63% versus 68%) and dental care (37% versus 45%).
Conclusion: The beneficiaries of the general scheme via the AAH had mainly psychiatric and neurological pathologies, but other pathologies were also much more frequent than in the general population. The lower use of dental and specialist care was probably related to a lack of access to care, potentially caused by the absence of 100% coverage of care.