Spatial Accessibility Assessment of Prehospital EMS with a Focus on the Elderly Population: A Case Study in Ningbo, China
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Area and Study Population
2.2. Data Collection and Sources
2.2.1. Elderly Population Data
2.2.2. Elderly’s Emergency Call Data
2.2.3. Ambulance Bases Data
2.2.4. Administration Boundary Data
2.2.5. Road Network
2.3. Methodology
2.3.1. Stage 1: Data Process
2.3.2. Stage 2: Measuring Spatial Accessibility
- Step 1: Definition of demand points
- Step 2: Locating the current ambulance bases
- Step 3: Evaluation of the spatial accessibility of demand points
2.3.3. Stage 3: Measuring Spatial Equilibrium of the Whole Study Area
3. Results
3.1. Basic Characteristics of the Study Elderly Population
3.2. Distribution Characteristics of the Elderly’s Demand for Prehospital EMS
3.2.1. Time Distribution
3.2.2. Disease Distribution
3.2.3. Calls’ Spatial Distribution
3.2.4. Demand Points’ Spatial Distribution
3.3. The Elderly’s Spatial Accessibility of Prehospital EMS
3.4. Spatial Equilibrium of the Elderly’s Spatial Accessibility to Prehospital EMS
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Districts | Permanent Residents (n) | Aged 65 and Above (n) | Percentage of the Elderly (%) |
---|---|---|---|
Haishu District | 1,041,285 | 131,201 | 12.60 |
Jiangbei District | 488,885 | 57,383 | 11.74 |
Yinzhou District | 1,609,555 | 178,762 | 11.11 |
Study area | 3,139,725 | 367,346 | 11.70 |
Characteristics | All Patients (n = 10,062) |
---|---|
Sex (%) | |
Male | 5399 (53.66) |
Female | 4663 (46.34) |
Age (%) | |
65–74 | 3724 (37.01) |
75–84 | 3187 (31.67) |
85–94 | 2851 (28.33) |
95–104 | 297 (2.96) |
105 and above | 3 (0.03) |
Mean age | 78.79 |
Disease Diagnosis | n | % |
---|---|---|
Trauma and intoxication | 2385 | 23.70 |
Unclassified diseases | 1969 | 19.57 |
Neurologic diseases | 1499 | 14.90 |
Cardiovascular diseases | 1119 | 11.12 |
Respiratory diseases | 1029 | 10.23 |
Gastrointestinal diseases | 852 | 8.47 |
Muscle, skeletal and connective tissue diseases | 341 | 3.39 |
Others | 263 | 2.61 |
Urogenital diseases | 217 | 2.16 |
Tumor and blood-related diseases | 154 | 1.53 |
Endocrine nutritional metabolic diseases | 135 | 1.34 |
Skin and subcutaneous tissue diseases | 41 | 0.41 |
ENT diseases | 35 | 0.35 |
Psychiatric illness | 15 | 0.15 |
Infectious and parasitic disease | 8 | 0.08 |
Districts | Permanent Residents | Aged 65 and Above | Ambulance Utilization by the Elderly | Number of Ambulances Utilization per 1000 Elderly Residents |
---|---|---|---|---|
Haishu District | 1,041,285 | 131,201 | 3960 | 10.78 |
Jiangbei District | 488,885 | 57,383 | 1856 | 5.05 |
Yinzhou District | 1,609,555 | 178,762 | 4246 | 11.56 |
Study area | 3,139,725 | 367,346 | 10,062 | 27.39 |
Accessibility Score | 0~1 | 1~10 | 10~20 | 20 and Over |
---|---|---|---|---|
Number of demand points | 538 | 239 | 12 | 4 |
Proportion (%) | 67.84 | 30.14 | 1.51 | 0.51 |
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Zhu, H.; Pan, L.; Li, Y.; Jin, H.; Wang, Q.; Liu, X.; Wang, C.; Liao, P.; Jiang, X.; Li, L. Spatial Accessibility Assessment of Prehospital EMS with a Focus on the Elderly Population: A Case Study in Ningbo, China. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 9964. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18199964
Zhu H, Pan L, Li Y, Jin H, Wang Q, Liu X, Wang C, Liao P, Jiang X, Li L. Spatial Accessibility Assessment of Prehospital EMS with a Focus on the Elderly Population: A Case Study in Ningbo, China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021; 18(19):9964. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18199964
Chicago/Turabian StyleZhu, Huanhuan, Lin Pan, Yiji Li, Huiming Jin, Qian Wang, Xin Liu, Cong Wang, Peng Liao, Xinyang Jiang, and Luo Li. 2021. "Spatial Accessibility Assessment of Prehospital EMS with a Focus on the Elderly Population: A Case Study in Ningbo, China" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18, no. 19: 9964. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18199964