Open AccessRating access to health care: Are there differences according to geographical region?
Author(s) -
Hausdorf Katrin,
Rogers Carla,
Whiteman David,
Newman Beth,
Coxeter Peter,
Youl Philippa,
Aitken Joanne
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.946
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1753-6405
pISSN - 1326-0200
DOI - 10.1111/j.1753-6405.2008.00223.x
Subject(s) - health care , sample (material) , public health , business , service (business) , health services , environmental health , patient satisfaction , nursing , medicine , family medicine , economic growth , marketing , population , chemistry , chromatography , economics
Objective:To report on satisfaction with access to health care in Queensland focussing on regional differences.Methods:A sub‐sample of 4440 respondents with no history of cancer from the Queensland Cancer Risk Study who completed a self‐administered questionnaire was used for this study.Main outcome measures:Perceptions of overall difficulty gaining access to health care and ratings of access to various health care services by region.Results:Queenslanders living outside major cities reported less satisfaction with access to various aspects of health care services. Age was associated with more favourable ratings of health care access.Conclusions:Despite public health efforts to increase service provision throughout Queensland, health care access is still rated relatively less favourably by Queenslanders in regional and remote parts of the state.Implications:Identifying which services are difficult to access and why will assist public health policy makers in improving health service accessibility.