Fourteen percent of respondents reported visiting an outpatient or casualty department at least once in a three month period before interview. There has been a general increase since 1972, when 10% of all respondents reported such visits, although there is also evidence of a slight decline from 1998 onwards.

Older respondents were most likely to have reported attending an outpatient or casualty department. Among those aged 75 and over, men were more likely than women to have attended an outpatient or casualty department, 31% compared to 23%.

In 2001, 7% of people reported attending hospital as a day patient in the 12 months before interview. The proportion of respondents attending hospitals as day patients has increased since this question was first asked in 1992 from 4% to 7%, although this figure has remained unchanged since 1998.

There were no statistically significant differences between males and females in the average number of separate days spent in hospital as day patients during the 12 months prior to interview.

The proportion of respondents who reported an inpatient stay in the 12 months prior to interview remained unchanged since 2000, at 8% which reflects the overall trend of little change since 1982. Overall, females were slightly more likely to report an inpatient stay than males (8% compared with 7%) but within age groups this difference was only found among those aged 16 to 44 (9% compared with 5%). People aged 75 and over were more likely to report an inpatient stay than any other age group, 17% in this group did so.

Among those who had been an inpatient, the average number of nights spent in hospital during the 12 months before interview was 8. Among adults, the average number of nights increased with age from 4 nights for those aged 16 to 44, to 17 nights for those aged 75 or over.