Geographical accessibility to healthcare by point-of–interest data from online maps: a comparative study

Geographical accessibility is important for promoting health equity, and calculating it requires the locations of all existing healthcare facilities in a region. Authoritative location data collected by governments is accurate but mostly not publicly available, while point-of-interest (POI) data fr...

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Main Authors: Heng-Qian Huang-fu, Nan Zhang, Li Wang, Hui-Juan Liang, Ben-Song Xian, Xiao-Fang Gan, Yingsi Lai
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: PAGEPress Publications 2024-12-01
Series:Geospatial Health
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Online Access:https://www.geospatialhealth.net/gh/article/view/1322
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author Heng-Qian Huang-fu
Nan Zhang
Li Wang
Hui-Juan Liang
Ben-Song Xian
Xiao-Fang Gan
Yingsi Lai
author_facet Heng-Qian Huang-fu
Nan Zhang
Li Wang
Hui-Juan Liang
Ben-Song Xian
Xiao-Fang Gan
Yingsi Lai
author_sort Heng-Qian Huang-fu
collection DOAJ
description Geographical accessibility is important for promoting health equity, and calculating it requires the locations of all existing healthcare facilities in a region. Authoritative location data collected by governments is accurate but mostly not publicly available, while point-of-interest (POI) data from online sources, such as Baidu Maps and AutoNavi Maps are easily accessible. However, the accuracy of the latter has not been thoroughly analyzed. Taking Baotou, a medium-sized city in China, as aneample, we assessed the suitability of using POI data for measuring geographic accessibility to healthcare facilities.We computedthe difference of geographic accessibility calculated based on POI data and that on authoritative data.Logistic regression and a multiple linear regression model was applied to identify factors related to the consistency between the two data sources. Compared to authoritative data, POI data exhibited discrepancies, with completeness of 54.9% and accuracy of 63.7%. Geographic accessibility calculated based on both data showed similar patterns, with good consistency for hospitals and in urban areas. However, large differences (>30 minutes) were shown in rural areas for primary healthcare facilities. The differences were small regarding to population- weighted average accessibility (with slight underestimation of 3.07 minutes) and population coverage across various levels of accessibility (with differences less than 1% of the population) for the entire area. In conclusion, POI data can be considered foruse in both urban areas and at the level of entire city; however, awareness should be raised in rural areas.
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spelling doaj-art-e9a310b5f0ff4be1867927d675f2946c2024-12-21T02:28:20ZengPAGEPress PublicationsGeospatial Health1827-19871970-70962024-12-0119210.4081/gh.2024.1322Geographical accessibility to healthcare by point-of–interest data from online maps: a comparative studyHeng-Qian Huang-fu0Nan Zhang1Li Wang2Hui-Juan Liang3Ben-Song Xian4Xiao-Fang Gan5Yingsi Lai6Department of Medical Statistics, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, GuangzhouFaculty of Health Management, Inner Mongolia Medical University, HohhotDepartment of Medical Statistics, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, GuangzhouFaculty of Health Management, Inner Mongolia Medical University, HohhotFaculty of Health Management, Inner Mongolia Medical University, HohhotFaculty of Health Management, Inner Mongolia Medical University, HohhotDepartment of Medical Statistics, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou; Faculty of Health Management, Inner Mongolia Medical University, Hohhot; Sun Yat-sen Global Health Institute, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China; Health Information Research Center, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Medicine, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou; Guangzhou Joint Research Center for Disease Surveillance, Early Warning and Risk Assessment, Guangzhou Geographical accessibility is important for promoting health equity, and calculating it requires the locations of all existing healthcare facilities in a region. Authoritative location data collected by governments is accurate but mostly not publicly available, while point-of-interest (POI) data from online sources, such as Baidu Maps and AutoNavi Maps are easily accessible. However, the accuracy of the latter has not been thoroughly analyzed. Taking Baotou, a medium-sized city in China, as aneample, we assessed the suitability of using POI data for measuring geographic accessibility to healthcare facilities.We computedthe difference of geographic accessibility calculated based on POI data and that on authoritative data.Logistic regression and a multiple linear regression model was applied to identify factors related to the consistency between the two data sources. Compared to authoritative data, POI data exhibited discrepancies, with completeness of 54.9% and accuracy of 63.7%. Geographic accessibility calculated based on both data showed similar patterns, with good consistency for hospitals and in urban areas. However, large differences (>30 minutes) were shown in rural areas for primary healthcare facilities. The differences were small regarding to population- weighted average accessibility (with slight underestimation of 3.07 minutes) and population coverage across various levels of accessibility (with differences less than 1% of the population) for the entire area. In conclusion, POI data can be considered foruse in both urban areas and at the level of entire city; however, awareness should be raised in rural areas. https://www.geospatialhealth.net/gh/article/view/1322healthcare accessibilityGeographic accesshealthcare facilities
spellingShingle Heng-Qian Huang-fu
Nan Zhang
Li Wang
Hui-Juan Liang
Ben-Song Xian
Xiao-Fang Gan
Yingsi Lai
Geographical accessibility to healthcare by point-of–interest data from online maps: a comparative study
Geospatial Health
healthcare accessibility
Geographic access
healthcare facilities
title Geographical accessibility to healthcare by point-of–interest data from online maps: a comparative study
title_full Geographical accessibility to healthcare by point-of–interest data from online maps: a comparative study
title_fullStr Geographical accessibility to healthcare by point-of–interest data from online maps: a comparative study
title_full_unstemmed Geographical accessibility to healthcare by point-of–interest data from online maps: a comparative study
title_short Geographical accessibility to healthcare by point-of–interest data from online maps: a comparative study
title_sort geographical accessibility to healthcare by point of interest data from online maps a comparative study
topic healthcare accessibility
Geographic access
healthcare facilities
url https://www.geospatialhealth.net/gh/article/view/1322
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