Evidence map›Paper›PMID 18581617›Full record

ArticleCroatian medical journal2008

Influence of urbanization level and gross domestic product of counties in Croatia on access to health care.

Mario Bagat, Velibor Drakulić, Katarina Sekelj Kauzlarić, Andro Vlahusić, Ivica Bilić, Dubravka Matanić

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Croatian medical journal, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Mario BagatCroatian Institute for HealthInsurance, Zagreb, Croatia. mario.bagat@st.t-com.hr
Velibor Drakulić
Katarina Sekelj Kauzlarić
Andro Vlahusić
Ivica Bilić
Dubravka Matanić

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimTo examine the association of counties' urbanization level and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita on the access to health care.

methodsCounties were divided in two groups according to the urbanization level and GDP per capita in purchasing power standards. The number of physicians per 100,000 inhabitants, the number of physicians in hospitals in four basic specialties, physicians' workload, average duration of working week, the average number of insurants per general practice (GP) team, and the number of inhabitants covered by one internal medicine outpatient clinic were compared between predominantly urban and predominantly rural counties and between richer and poorer counties. Our study included only GP teams and outpatient clinics under the contract with the Croatian Institute for Health Insurance. Data on physicians were collected from the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the Croatian Institute for Health Insurance, the Croatian Institute for Public Health, and the Croatian Medical Chamber. Data on the contracts with the Croatian Institute for Health Insurance and health care services provided under these contracts were obtained from the database of the Institute, while population and gross domestic product data were obtained from the Database of the Croatian Institute for Statistics. World Health Organization Health for All Database was used for the international comparison of physician's data.

resultsThere was no significant difference in the total number of physicians per 100,000 inhabitants between predominantly urban and predominantly rural counties (206.9+/-41.0 vs 175.4+/-30.3; P=0.067, t test) nor between richer and poorer counties (194.5+/-49.8 vs 187.7+/-25.3; P=0.703, t test). However, there were significantly fewer GPs per 100,000 inhabitants in rural than urban counties (49.0+/-5.5 vs 56.7+/-4.6; P=0.003, t test). GPs in rural counties had more insurants than those working in urban counties (1.749.8+/-172.8 vs 1.540.7+/-106.3; P=0.004, t test). The working week of specialists in the four observed specialties in hospitals was longer than the recommended 48 hours a week.

conclusionThe lack of physicians, especially in primary health care can lead to a reduced access to health care and increased workload of physicians, predominantly in rural counties, regardless of the counties' GDP.

Indexed as

UrbanizationCommerceCroatiaHealth Services AccessibilityHumansPhysicians

Identifiers

PMID18581617
PMCPMC2443623

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.