ArticleInternational journal for equity in health2023
Geographical challenges and inequity of healthcare access for high-risk paediatric heart disease.
Article in International journal for equity in health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.
- Modeling hospital catchment areas in pediatric oncology using an empirically parameterized extended Huff-model.International journal of health geographics · 2026Article
- Geographical inequity in out-of-pocket costs for families of children with congenital heart disease requiring neurodevelopment support: an examination of policy scenarios using economic modelling.International journal for equity in health · 2026Article
- Family and health professional perspectives of the CHD LIFE cardiac developmental long-term care pathway: a qualitative evaluation.Pediatric research · 2026Article
- The relationship between health literacy and satisfaction with medical care in parents of children with chronic gastrointestinal diseases.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Neurodevelopmental follow-up care pathways and processes for children with congenital heart disease in Australia.Pediatric research · 2025Article
- Impact of COVID-19 on Prenatal Diagnosis and Surgical Outcomes of Congenital Heart Disease: Fetal Heart Society and Society of Thoracic Surgeons Collaborative Study.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundGeographical context is an important consideration for health system design to promote equality in access to care for patients with childhood heart disease (CHD), particularly those living in regional, rural, and remote areas. To help inform future policy and practice recommendations, this study aimed to (i) describe the geographic distribution of high-risk CHD patients accessing an Australian state-wide specialist service and (ii) estimate travel time for accessing healthcare via general practitioners (primary), nearest paediatric centre (secondary) and specialist paediatric cardiac centre (tertiary).
methodsParticipants included a cohort of children (0-18 year) who accessed state-wide specialist CHD services over a 3-year period (2019-2021) in Queensland, Australia. Locations for patient residence, general practitioner, closest paediatric centre and tertiary cardiac centre were mapped using geographical information system (GIS) software (ArcGIS Online). Travel distance and times were estimated using a Google Maps Application Programming Interface (API).
results1019 patients (median age 3.8 years) had cardiac intervention and were included in the sample. Of this cohort, 30.2% lived outside the heavily urbanised South East Queensland (SEQ) area where the tertiary centre is located. These patients travel substantially further and longer to access tertiary level care (but not secondary or primary level care) compared to those in SEQ. Median distance for patients residing outside SEQ to access tertiary care was 953 km with a travel time of 10 h 43 min. This compares to 5.5 km to the general practitioner and 20.6 km to a paediatric service (8.9 and 54 min respectively).
conclusionThis geographical mapping of CHD services has demonstrated a key challenge inherent in providing specialist cardiac care to children in a large state-based healthcare system. A significant proportion of high-risk patients live large distances from tertiary level care. The greater accessibility of primary care services highlights the importance of supporting primary care physicians outside metropolitan areas to acquire or build the ability and capacity to care for children with CHD. Strengthening local primary and secondary services not only has the potential to improve the outcomes of high-risk patients, but also to reduce costs and burden associated with potentially avoidable travel from regional, rural, or remote areas to access specialist CHD services.
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