IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i13p7706-d846036.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Rural–Urban Disparities in Realized Spatial Access to General Practitioners, Orthopedic Surgeons, and Physiotherapists among People with Osteoarthritis in Alberta, Canada

Author

Listed:
  • Xiaoxiao Liu

    (Department of Community Health Science, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
    McCaig Bone and Joint Health Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
    O’Brien Institute for Public Health, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada)

  • Judy E. Seidel

    (Department of Community Health Science, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
    O’Brien Institute for Public Health, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
    Applied Research and Evaluation Services, Alberta Health Services, Edmonton, AB T5J 3E4, Canada)

  • Terrence McDonald

    (Department of Community Health Science, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
    O’Brien Institute for Public Health, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
    Department of Family Medicine, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada)

  • Alka B. Patel

    (Department of Community Health Science, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
    O’Brien Institute for Public Health, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
    Applied Research and Evaluation Services, Alberta Health Services, Edmonton, AB T5J 3E4, Canada)

  • Nigel Waters

    (Department of Geography, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
    Department of Civil Engineering, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
    Department of Environmental Science and Policy, College of Science, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030, USA)

  • Stefania Bertazzon

    (O’Brien Institute for Public Health, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
    Department of Geography, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada)

  • Rizwan Shahid

    (O’Brien Institute for Public Health, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
    Applied Research and Evaluation Services, Alberta Health Services, Edmonton, AB T5J 3E4, Canada
    Department of Geography, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada)

  • Deborah A. Marshall

    (Department of Community Health Science, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
    McCaig Bone and Joint Health Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
    O’Brien Institute for Public Health, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada)

Abstract

Rural Canadians have high health care needs due to high prevalence of osteoarthritis (OA) but lack access to care. Examining realized access to three types of providers (general practitioners (GPs), orthopedic surgeons (Ortho), and physiotherapists (PTs)) simultaneously helps identify gaps in access to needed OA care, inform accessibility assessment, and support health care resource allocation. Travel time from a patient’s postal code to the physician’s postal code was calculated using origin–destination network analysis. We applied descriptive statistics to summarize differences in travel time, hotspot analysis to explore geospatial patterns, and distance decay function to examine the travel pattern of health care utilization by urbanicity. The median travel time in Alberta was 11.6 min (IQR = 4.3–25.7) to GPs, 28.9 (IQR = 14.8–65.0) to Ortho, and 33.7 (IQR = 23.1–47.3) to PTs. We observed significant rural–urban disparities in realized access to GPs (2.9 and IQR = 0.0–92.1 in rural remote areas vs. 12.6 and IQR = 6.4–21.0 in metropolitan areas), Ortho (233.3 and IQR = 171.3–363.7 in rural remote areas vs. 21.3 and IQR = 14.0–29.3 in metropolitan areas), and PTs (62.4 and IQR = 0.0–232.1 in rural remote areas vs. 32.1 and IQR = 25.2–39.9 in metropolitan areas). We identified hotspots of realized access to all three types of providers in rural remote areas, where patients with OA tend to travel longer for health care. This study may provide insight on the choice of catchment size and the distance decay pattern of health care utilization for further studies on spatial accessibility.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiaoxiao Liu & Judy E. Seidel & Terrence McDonald & Alka B. Patel & Nigel Waters & Stefania Bertazzon & Rizwan Shahid & Deborah A. Marshall, 2022. "Rural–Urban Disparities in Realized Spatial Access to General Practitioners, Orthopedic Surgeons, and Physiotherapists among People with Osteoarthritis in Alberta, Canada," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-20, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:13:p:7706-:d:846036
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/13/7706/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/13/7706/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    2. Raaj Kishore Biswas & Enamul Kabir, 2017. "Influence of distance between residence and health facilities on non-communicable diseases: An assessment over hypertension and diabetes in Bangladesh," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(5), pages 1-11, May.
    3. Paul L Delamater & Joseph P Messina & Sue C Grady & Vince WinklerPrins & Ashton M Shortridge, 2013. "Do More Hospital Beds Lead to Higher Hospitalization Rates? A Spatial Examination of Roemer’s Law," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(2), pages 1-16, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. 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).
    2. Paul L. Delamater, 2018. "Comment on “A Conceptual Framework for Quality Healthcare Accessibility: a Scalable Approach for Big Data Technologies”," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 303-309, April.
    3. Pan, Jay & Qin, Xuezheng & Li, Qian & Messina, Joseph P. & Delamater, Paul L., 2015. "Does hospital competition improve health care delivery in China?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 179-199.
    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. 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).
    7. 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).
    8. 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.
    9. 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.
    10. Wulczyn, Fred, 2020. "Race/ethnicity and running away from foster care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    11. Redeker, Steef & Massey, Emma K. & van Merweland, Ruben G. & Weimar, Willem & Ismail, Sohal Y. & Busschbach, Jan J.V., 2022. "Induced demand in kidney replacement therapy," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(10), pages 1062-1068.
    12. Junyu Lu & Meilin Dai & Fuhan Li & Ludan Qin & Bin Cheng & Zhuoyan Li & Zikun Yao & Rong Wu, 2023. "The Impact of Urban Built Environments on Elderly People’s Sense of Safety and Adaptation to Aging: A Case Study of Three Major Urban Agglomerations in China," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-18, July.
    13. Zhou, Ke & Vidyarthi, Arpana & Matchar, David & Cheung, Yin Bun & Lam, Shao Wei & Ong, Marcus, 2018. "The relationship between workload and length of stay in Singapore," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(7), pages 769-774.
    14. 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.
    15. 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.
    16. Lu, Liyong & Pan, Jay, 2019. "The association of hospital competition with inpatient costs of stroke: Evidence from China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 230(C), pages 234-245.
    17. 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.
    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. 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).
    20. Jiahui Qin & Shijia Luo & Disheng Yi & Heping Jiang & Jing Zhang, 2022. "Measuring Cluster-Based Spatial Access to Shopping Stores under Real-Time Travel Time," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-21, February.

    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:19:y:2022:i:13:p:7706-:d:846036. 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.