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ABSTRACT: Background
In developing countries, Pakistan is one of the countries where access to health and health-related indicators is a major concern. Their improvement would reduce inequalities among various Communities/Districts or groups of Communities. A Community health index (CHI) in this regard is estimated to explore inequality ratio, inequality slope, and spatial analysis of inequalities among all Communities at regional and geographical levels.Methods
Data from Pakistan Social and Living Standard Measurement (PSLM) survey, Round-VI, 2014-15 were used to construct CHI. The index was constructed in two steps. In the first step, the study indicators were standardized while in the second step, the standardized indicators were aggregated into a single metric by applying non-linear Geometric Mean formula.Results
The inequality ratio of 16.59 estimated for Pakistan was found to be higher than the ratio of Atlanta city, GA (5.92), whereas, a lower slope coefficient was estimated for Pakistan than Atlanta city, GA (0.38??0.43). The results of the spatial analysis revealed different patterns of inequalities. A cluster of healthy districts was found in Punjab province, whereas districts from Baluchistan had made a bunch of deprived/unhealthy districts in terms of CHI scores. Besides, separate maps for all provinces showed that capital districts of all provinces were relatively well-off/developed.Conclusion
The instant results concluded that inequalities in access to health and health-related indicators exist across countries as well as across geographical regions. To reduce or eradicate these inequalities, government and public health workers are recommended to set priorities based on access to composite index.
SUBMITTER: Khan SU
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7690118 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Khan Sami Ullah SU Hussain Ijaz I
BMC public health 20201126 1
<h4>Background</h4>In developing countries, Pakistan is one of the countries where access to health and health-related indicators is a major concern. Their improvement would reduce inequalities among various Communities/Districts or groups of Communities. A Community health index (CHI) in this regard is estimated to explore inequality ratio, inequality slope, and spatial analysis of inequalities among all Communities at regional and geographical levels.<h4>Methods</h4>Data from Pakistan Social a ...[more]