Socio-spatial disparities in access to emergency health care-A Scandinavian case study

PLoS One. 2021 Dec 10;16(12):e0261319. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0261319. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

Having timely access to emergency health care (EHC) depends largely on where you live. In this Scandinavian case study, we investigate how accessibility to EHC varies spatially in order to reveal potential socio-spatial disparities in access. Distinct measures of EHC accessibility were calculated for southern Sweden in a network analysis using a Geographical Information System (GIS) based on data from 2018. An ANOVA test was carried out to investigate how accessibility vary for different measures between urban and rural areas, and negative binominal regression modelling was then carried out to assess potential disparities in accessibility between socioeconomic and demographic groups. Areas with high shares of older adults show poor access to EHC, especially those in the most remote, rural areas. However, rurality alone does not preclude poor access to EHC. Education, income and proximity to ambulance stations were also associated with EHC accessibility, but not always in expected ways. Despite indications of a well-functioning EHC, with most areas served within one hour, socio-spatial disparities in access to EHC were detected both between places and population groups.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Demography
  • Emergency Medical Services / statistics & numerical data*
  • Health Services Accessibility / statistics & numerical data*
  • Healthcare Disparities / statistics & numerical data*
  • Humans
  • Scandinavian and Nordic Countries
  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • Urban Population

Grants and funding

VC recieved funding for this article from FORMAS (project number: 2016-00332). Webpage: https://formas.se/en/start-page.html The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.