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Do We Reap What We Sow? Exploring the Association between the Strength of European Primary Healthcare Systems and Inequity in Unmet Need
- Source :
- PLoS ONE, PLoS ONE, Vol 12, Iss 1, p e0169274 (2017), PLOS ONE
- Publication Year :
- 2017
- Publisher :
- Public Library of Science, 2017.
-
Abstract
- Access to healthcare is inequitably distributed across different socioeconomic groups. Several vulnerable groups experience barriers in accessing healthcare, compared to their more wealthier counterparts. In response to this, many countries use resources to strengthen their primary care (PC) system, because in many European countries PC is the first entry point to the healthcare system and plays a central role in the coordination of patients through the healthcare system. However it is unclear whether this strengthening of PC leads to less inequity in access to the whole healthcare system. This study investigates the association between strength indicators of PC and inequity in unmet need by merging data from the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions database (2013) and the Primary Healthcare Activity Monitor for Europe (2010). The analyses reveal a significant association between the Gini coefficient for income inequality and inequity in unmet need. When the Gini coefficient of a country is one SD higher, the social inequity in unmet need in that particular country will be 4.960 higher. Furthermore, the accessibility and the workforce development of a country's PC system is inverse associated with the social inequity of unmet need. More specifically, when the access- and workforce development indicator of a country PC system are one standard deviation higher, the inequity in unmet healthcare needs are respectively 2.200 and 4.951 lower. Therefore, policymakers should focus on reducing income inequality to tackle inequity in access, and strengthen PC (by increasing accessibility and better-developing its workforce) as this can influence inequity in unmet need.
- Subjects :
- INDICATORS
Economics
lcsh:Medicine
Social Sciences
IMMIGRANTS
Geographical Locations
0302 clinical medicine
Economic inequality
Health care
Medicine and Health Sciences
Medicine
Public and Occupational Health
030212 general & internal medicine
lcsh:Science
POPULATION
media_common
INCOME
education.field_of_study
Multidisciplinary
Gini coefficient
030503 health policy & services
Workforce development
Turkey (Country)
Socioeconomic Aspects of Health
Europe
Workforce
INEQUALITIES
Income
ACCESS
0305 other medical science
Research Article
COUNTRIES
Asia
Population
UNITED-STATES
03 medical and health sciences
Health Economics
Development economics
media_common.cataloged_instance
Humans
European union
Healthcare Disparities
education
Socioeconomic status
Primary Care
Health Services Needs and Demand
Health Care Policy
Primary Health Care
business.industry
lcsh:R
SERVICES
MEDICAL-CARE
Health Care
Labor Economics
People and Places
Linear Models
lcsh:Q
business
Finance
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 19326203
- Volume :
- 12
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- PLoS ONE
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....09fc77b66ee6561de058a9868e15c02b