IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i19p9964-d640638.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Spatial Accessibility Assessment of Prehospital EMS with a Focus on the Elderly Population: A Case Study in Ningbo, China

Author

Listed:
  • Huanhuan Zhu

    (School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
    Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
    These authors contributed to the work equally and should be regarded as co-first authors.)

  • Lin Pan

    (School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
    Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
    These authors contributed to the work equally and should be regarded as co-first authors.)

  • Yiji Li

    (Ningbo Medical Emergency Center, Ningbo 315000, China)

  • Huiming Jin

    (Ningbo Medical Emergency Center, Ningbo 315000, China)

  • Qian Wang

    (School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
    Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China)

  • Xin Liu

    (School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
    Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China)

  • Cong Wang

    (School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
    Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China)

  • Peng Liao

    (School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
    Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China)

  • Xinyang Jiang

    (School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
    Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China)

  • Luo Li

    (School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
    Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
    Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety of the Ministry of Education and Key Laboratory of Health Technology Assessment of the Ministry of Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China)

Abstract

The spatial accessibility of prehospital EMS is particularly important for the elderly population’s physiological functions. Due to the recent expansion of aging populations all over the globe, elderly people’s spatial accessibility to prehospital EMS presents a serious challenge. An efficient strategy to address this issue involves using geographic information systems (GIS)-based tools to evaluate the spatial accessibility in conjunction with the spatial distribution of aging people, available road networks, and prehospital EMS facilities. This study employed gravity model and empirical Bayesian Kriging (EBK) interpolation analysis to evaluate the elderly’s spatial access to prehospital EMS in Ningbo, China. In our study, we aimed to solve the following specific research questions: In the study area, “what are the characteristics of the prehospital EMS demand of the elderly?” “Do the elderly have equal and convenient spatial access to prehospital EMS?” and “How can we satisfy the prehospital EMS demand of an aging population, improve their spatial access to prehospital EMS, and then ensure their quality of life?” The results showed that 37.44% of patients admitted to prehospital EMS in 2020 were 65 years and older. The rate of utilization of ambulance services by the elderly was 27.39 per 1000 elderly residents. Ambulance use by the elderly was the highest in the winter months and the lowest in the spring months (25.90% vs. 22.38%). As for the disease spectrum, the main disease was found to be trauma and intoxication (23.70%). The mean accessibility score was only 1.43 and nearly 70% of demand points had scored lower than 1. The elderly’s spatial accessibility to prehospital EMS had a central-outward gradient decreasing trend from the central region to the southeast and southwest of the study area. Our proposed methodology and its spatial equilibrium results could be taken as a benchmark of prehospital care capacity and help inform authorities’ efforts to develop efficient, aging-focused spatial accessibility plans.

Suggested Citation

  • Huanhuan Zhu & Lin Pan & Yiji Li & Huiming Jin & Qian Wang & Xin Liu & Cong Wang & Peng Liao & Xinyang Jiang & Luo Li, 2021. "Spatial Accessibility Assessment of Prehospital EMS with a Focus on the Elderly Population: A Case Study in Ningbo, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-17, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:19:p:9964-:d:640638
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/19/9964/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/19/9964/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Schnittker, Jason, 2005. "Chronic illness and depressive symptoms in late life," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 13-23, January.
    2. Lei Zhu & Shuang Zhong & Wei Tu & Jing Zheng & Shenjing He & Junzhe Bao & Cunrui Huang, 2019. "Assessing Spatial Accessibility to Medical Resources at the Community Level in Shenzhen, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-15, January.
    3. Dominique Peeters & Isabelle Thomas, 2000. "Distance predicting functions and applied location-allocation models," Journal of Geographical Systems, Springer, vol. 2(2), pages 167-184, July.
    4. Shirui Liu & Yaochen Qin & Yanan Xu, 2019. "Inequality and Influencing Factors of Spatial Accessibility of Medical Facilities in Rural Areas of China: A Case Study of Henan Province," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-16, May.
    5. Kan Wang & Jianjun Bai & Xing Dang, 2020. "Spatial Difference and Equity Analysis for Accessibility to Three-Level Medical Services Based on Actual Medical Behavior in Shaanxi, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(1), pages 1-20, December.
    6. Khan, Abdullah A., 1992. "An integrated approach to measuring potential spatial access to health care services," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 275-287, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jiayi Zhang & Yingzi Chen & Yaqi Hu & Lina Lai, 2023. "Spatial Equality of Urban Care Facilities from the Perspective of Refinement: An Example from Changchun, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-20, August.
    2. Nina Tumosa, 2023. "Using the Age-Friendly Health Systems Framework to Track Wellness and Health Promotion Priorities of Older Adults in the Global Community," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-5, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Meijie Chen & Yumin Chen & Xiaoguang Wang & Huangyuan Tan & Fenglan Luo, 2019. "Spatial Difference of Transit-Based Accessibility to Hospitals by Regions Using Spatially Adjusted ANOVA," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-20, May.
    2. Jingya Luan & Yuhong Tian & Chi Yung Jim & Xu Liu & Mengxuan Yan & Lizhu Wu, 2023. "Assessing Spatial Accessibility of Community Hospitals for the Elderly in Beijing, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-19, January.
    3. Wei, Zhongyu & Bai, Jianjun & Feng, Ruitao, 2022. "Evaluating the spatial accessibility of medical resources taking into account the residents' choice behavior of outpatient and inpatient medical treatment," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    4. Antonio Abatemarco & Massimo Aria & Sergio Beraldo & Michela Collaro, 2023. "Measuring Access and Inequality of Access to Health Care: a Policy-Oriented Decomposition," CSEF Working Papers 666, Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy.
    5. Hone-Jay Chu & Bo-Cheng Lin & Ming-Run Yu & Ta-Chien Chan, 2016. "Minimizing Spatial Variability of Healthcare Spatial Accessibility—The Case of a Dengue Fever Outbreak," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-11, December.
    6. West, Jessica S., 2017. "Hearing impairment, social support, and depressive symptoms among U.S. adults: A test of the stress process paradigm," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 94-101.
    7. Nan Dong & Xiaohuan Yang & Hongyan Cai & Liming Wang, 2015. "A Novel Method for Simulating Urban Population Potential Based on Urban Patches: A Case Study in Jiangsu Province, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-20, April.
    8. Chen, Wendong & Cheng, Long & Chen, Xuewu & Chen, Jingxu & Cao, Mengqiu, 2021. "Measuring accessibility to health care services for older bus passengers: A finer spatial resolution," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    9. Tao, Zhuolin & Cheng, Yang & Du, Shishuai & Feng, Ling & Wang, Shaoshuai, 2020. "Accessibility to delivery care in Hubei Province, China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    10. Meihan Jin & Lu Liu & De Tong & Yongxi Gong & Yu Liu, 2019. "Evaluating the Spatial Accessibility and Distribution Balance of Multi-Level Medical Service Facilities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-19, March.
    11. Fahui Wang & Quan Tang, 2013. "Planning toward Equal Accessibility to Services: A Quadratic Programming Approach," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 40(2), pages 195-212, April.
    12. Eric W. Schultheis, 2014. "The Social, Geographic, and Organizational Determinants of Access to Civil Legal Aid Services: An Argument for an Integrated Access to Justice Model," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(3), pages 541-577, September.
    13. Lei Mu & Lijun Xing & Ying Jing & Qinjiang Hu, 2023. "Spatial Optimization of Park Green Spaces by an Improved Two-Step Optimization Model from the Perspective of Maximizing Accessibility Equity," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-20, April.
    14. Miloslava Plachkinova & Au Vo & Rahul Bhaskar & Brian Hilton, 0. "A conceptual framework for quality healthcare accessibility: a scalable approach for big data technologies," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-14.
    15. Siqin Wang & Yan Liu & Jack Lam & Zhe Gao, 2021. "Chronic Illness, Subjective Wellbeing, and Health Services Availability: A Study of Older Adults in Australia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-15, July.
    16. Miloslava Plachkinova & Au Vo & Rahul Bhaskar & Brian Hilton, 2018. "A conceptual framework for quality healthcare accessibility: a scalable approach for big data technologies," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 289-302, April.
    17. Mitchell, Penelope & Samsel, Steven & Curtin, Kevin M. & Price, Ashleigh & Turner, Daniel & Tramp, Ryan & Hudnall, Matthew & Parton, Jason & Lewis, Dwight, 2022. "Geographic disparities in access to Medication for Opioid Use Disorder across US census tracts based on treatment utilization behavior," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 302(C).
    18. Langjiao Li & Qingyun Du & Fu Ren & Xiangyuan Ma, 2019. "Assessing Spatial Accessibility to Hierarchical Urban Parks by Multi-Types of Travel Distance in Shenzhen, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-23, March.
    19. Nai Yang & Shiyi Chen & Weilu Hu & Zhongheng Wu & Yi Chao, 2016. "Spatial Distribution Balance Analysis of Hospitals in Wuhan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-16, September.
    20. Contreras, Diana & Bhamidipati, Srirama & Wilkinson, Sean, 2023. "Social vulnerability and spatial inequality in access to healthcare facilities: The case of the Santiago Metropolitan Region (RMS), Chile," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:19:p:9964-:d:640638. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.