Access to Primary Care Physicians and Mortality in Washington State: Application of a 2-Step Floating Catchment Area.
J Rural Health
; 36(3): 292-299, 2020 06.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-31840292
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
To measure access to primary care physicians (PCPs) using a 2-step floating catchment area and explore the associations between access to PCPs and mortality related to all-causes, cancers, and heart disease in Washington State.METHODS:
An ecological study employing generalized linear regression models of access to PCPs and mortality rates in 4,761 block groups in Washington State in 2015. To measure access to PCPs, we used a 2-step floating catchment area approach, taking into account area-level population, supply of PCPs, and travel time between PCPs, as well as area-level population with a distance decay function.RESULTS:
A 1-unit increase in PCP access score was associated with a reduction of 4.2 all-cause deaths per 100,000 people controlling for socioeconomic characteristics. A 1-unit increase in PCP access score was associated with a reduction of 2.7 cancer deaths and a reduction of 2.1 heart disease deaths per 100,000 people controlling for socioeconomic characteristics.CONCLUSIONS:
Better access to PCPs was associated with lower mortality from all-causes, cancers, and heart disease. The 2-step floating catchment area approach can help with the identification of PCP shortage areas, the development of rural residency programs, and the expansion of the physician workforce in Washington State and other regions.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Temas:
ECOS
/
Estado_mercado_regulacao
Bases de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Médicos de Atenção Primária
/
Acessibilidade aos Serviços de Saúde
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Aspecto:
Determinantes_sociais_saude
Limite:
Humans
País/Região como assunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Rural Health
Assunto da revista:
ENFERMAGEM
/
SAUDE PUBLICA
Ano de publicação:
2020
Tipo de documento:
Article