Dataset Information

Is neighborhood access to health care provision associated with individual-level utilization and satisfaction?

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To explore whether travel time access to the nearest general practitioner (GP) surgery (which is equivalent to U.S. primary care physician [PCP] office) and pharmacy predicts individual-level health service utilization and satisfaction.

Data sources

GP and pharmacy addresses were obtained from the New Zealand Ministry of Health in 2003 and merged with a geographic boundaries data set. Travel times derived from these data were appended to the 2002/03 New Zealand Health Survey (N=12,529).

Study design

Multilevel logistic regression was used to model the relationship between travel time access and five health service outcomes: GP consultation, blood pressure test, cholesterol test, visit to pharmacy, and satisfaction with latest GP consultation.

Data collection/extraction

Travel times between each census meshblock centroid and the nearest GP and pharmacy were calculated using Geographical Information System.

Principal findings

When travel times were long, blood pressure tests were less likely in urban areas (odds ratio [OR] 0.75 [0.59-0.97]), GP consultations were less likely in rural centers (OR 0.42 [0.22-0.78]) and pharmacy visits were less likely in highly rural areas (OR 0.36 [0.13-0.99]). There was some evidence of lower utilization in rural areas.

Conclusions

Locational access to GP surgeries and pharmacies appears to sometimes be associated with health service use but not satisfaction.

SUBMITTER: Hiscock R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2613990 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Is neighborhood access to health care provision associated with individual-level utilization and satisfaction?

Hiscock Rosemary R Pearce Jamie J Blakely Tony T Witten Karen K

Health services research 20080729 6

<h4>Objective</h4>To explore whether travel time access to the nearest general practitioner (GP) surgery (which is equivalent to U.S. primary care physician [PCP] office) and pharmacy predicts individual-level health service utilization and satisfaction.<h4>Data sources</h4>GP and pharmacy addresses were obtained from the New Zealand Ministry of Health in 2003 and merged with a geographic boundaries data set. Travel times derived from these data were appended to the 2002/03 New Zealand Health Su ...[more]

PMID: 18671752

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Dataset Information

Is neighborhood access to health care provision associated with individual-level utilization and satisfaction?

Objective

Data sources

Study design

Data collection/extraction

Principal findings

Conclusions

Publications

Is neighborhood access to health care provision associated with individual-level utilization and satisfaction?

Similar Datasets

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