Temporal changes in geographic disparities in access to emergency heart attack and stroke care: Are we any better today?

Doreen Busingye, Ashley Pedigo, Agricola Odoi

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16 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate temporal changes in geographic access to emergency heart attack and stroke care. Network analysis was used to compute travel time to the nearest emergency room (ER), cardiac, and stroke centers in Middle Tennessee. Populations within 30, 60, and 90. min driving time to the nearest ER, cardiac and stroke centers were identified. There were improvements in timely access to cardiac and stroke centers over the study period (1999-2010). There were significant (p< 0.0001) increases in the proportion of the population with access to cardiac centers within 30. min from 29.4% (1999) to 62.4% (2009) while that for stroke changed from 5.4% (2004) to 46.1% (2010). Most (96%) of the population had access to an ER within 30. min from 1999 to 2010. Access to care has improved in the last decade but more still needs to be done to address disparities in rural communities.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)247-263
Number of pages17
JournalSpatial and Spatio-temporal Epidemiology
Volume2
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2011
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Access to emergency care
  • Geographic disparities
  • Heart attack
  • Myocardial infarction
  • Network analysis
  • Stroke

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