Public Perception of the Concentration of Cardiac and Cerebrovascular Surgery to Metropolitan Hospitals.

BACKGROUND: This study investigates the perception of the general public regarding the concentration to metropolitan, hospitals of cardiac and cerebrovascular surgeries, and the perceived public need for government policies to resolve this issue. METHODS: A total of 800 participants were recruited for our telephone interview survey. Quota sampling was performed, adjusting for age and sex, to select by various geographic regions. Sampling with random digit dialing was performed; we called the randomly generated telephone numbers and made three attempts for non-responders before moving on to a different telephone number. RESULTS: Our sample population was 818 participants, 401 men (49.0%) and 417 women (51.0%). Our data showed that 85.5% of participants thought that cardiac surgery and neurosurgery patients are concentrated in large hospitals in Seoul. The principle reason for regional patients to want to receive surgery at major hospitals in Seoul was because of poor medical standards associated with regional hospitals (87.7%). We found that a vast majority of participants (97.5%) felt that government policies are needed to even out the clustering of cardiac surgery and neurosurgery patients, and that this clustering may be alleviated if policies that can specifically enhance the quality and the capacity of regional hospitals to carry out surgeries are adopted (98.3%). CONCLUSION: Government policy making must reflect public desiderata, and we suggest that these public health needs may be partially resolved through government-designated cardiac and neurosurgery specialist hospitals in regional areas.