ArticleBMC health services research2020
Spatio-temporal variations of licensed doctor distribution in China: measuring and mapping disparities.
Article in BMC health services research, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- The effect of maternal and child health resource allocation on efficiency in China.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Regional Disparities and Associated Factors Underlying CDC Health Professional Distribution in China.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Revealing spatiotemporal inequalities, hotspots, and determinants in healthcare resource distribution: insights from hospital beds panel data in 2308 Chinese counties.BMC public health · 2024Article
- GIS-Based Study of Dental Accessibility and Caries in 3-Year-Old Japanese Children.International dental journal · 2023Article
- Spatial Accessibility Evaluation and Location Optimization of Primary Healthcare in China: A Case Study of Shenzhen.GeoHealth · 2023Article
- Finding flaws in the spatial distribution of health workforce and its influential factors: An empirical analysis based on Chinese provincial panel data, 2010-2019.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe licensed doctor misdistribution is one of the major challenges faced by China. However, this subject remains underexplored as spatial distribution characteristics (such as spatial clustering patterns) have not been fully mapped out by existing studies. To fill the void, this study aims to explore the spatio-temporal dynamics and spatial clustering patterns of different subtypes of licensed doctors (i.e., clinicians, traditional Chinese medicine doctors, dentists, public health doctors, general practitioners) in China.
methodsData on the licensed doctor quantity and population during 2012-2016 was obtained from the National Health (and Family Planning) Yearbook. Functional boxplots were used to visualize and compare the temporal trends of densities of different subtypes of licensed doctors. This study adopted two complementary spatial statistics (space-time scan statistics and Moran's I statistics) to explore the spatio-temporal dynamics and spatial clustering patterns of licensed doctor distribution in China. The former was used to explore the spatial variations in the temporal trends of licensed doctor density during 2012-2016, and the latter was adopted to explore the spatial changing patterns of licensed doctor distribution during the research period.
resultsThe results show that the densities of almost all subtypes of licensed doctors displayed upward trends during 2012-2016, though some provincial units were left behind. Besides, spatial distribution characteristics varied across different subtypes of licensed doctors, with the low-low cluster area of general practitioners being the largest.
conclusionsThe misdistribution of licensed doctors is a global problem and China is no exception. In order to achieve a balanced distribution of licensed doctors, the government is suggested to introduce a series of measures, such as deliberative policy design and effective human resource management initiatives to educate, recruit, and retain licensed doctors and prevent a brain drain of licensed doctors from disadvantaged units.
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