ABSTRACT
Background: Equity is one of the most important issues in the distribution of resources and access to health services. Although it is very challenging to address health equity issues, it deeply affects policy making, resource allocation, and generally the legal principles of government and society. This study aimed to determine the inequality of distribution of general practitioner in Tehran province
Methods: This was an applied study that by ecological descriptive method investigated the relationship between the distribution of general practitioners and the mortality rate of children in the cities of Tehran province in 2012-2015. The data collection tool was a researcher-made form including the name of the city, the number of general practitioners, the mortality rate for children under five years old, and the population of each city. The STATA software with the DASP21 version 2.1was used to draw the Lorenz curve. The SPSS19 software and Pearson correlation coefficient [P-value < 0.05] were utilized for analyzing data
Results: Based on the results the Gini coefficient for general practitioners was not significantly changed and was in a relatively equitable position, the Gini coefficient varied from 0.269 to 0.299. The results of the study did not show a
significant relationship between the distribution of general practitioners and the mortality rate of children, although, with an increase in the ratio of general practitioners, the mortality rate of children decreased [P-value . 0.05]
Conclusion: The results of the study indicate that the distribution of general practitioners was relatively inequitable. Therefore, it is essential for the Ministry of Health to establish the balance in the distribution of the human resources
ABSTRACT
Background: Determining the inequality in health and the gap level among various socio-economic groups and factors affecting it were always concerns of most politicians and social scientists. This study investigated inequality in utilization of health care among Yazd residents in 2014
Methods: This analytic and cross-sectional study was conducted in 2014. The participants were all households of Yazd. The data were collected through a three part questionnaire including demographic factors, socio-economic factors, and utilization of health services. The number of samples was estimated to be 1037 households selected by random stratified sampling. After administrating the questionnaire in the form of interview, data were entered into the SPSS software. Later, factor analysis method was carried out and participants were categorized based on their social and economical status. Afterwards, using the logistic regression method, the correlation among variables was calculated and finally, for measuring the concentration index, the stratified data were fed into Stata11 software version 12/SE and analyzed
Results: According to the findings, there was no meaningful inequality in the distribution of contagious and non-contagious decreases in the population under study. Inequality in utilization of services for inpatient and outpatients during the past 6 months in the five socio-economic groups was significant [P-value = 0.000]. This shows that accumulation of visits occurred in richer groups of society. Also, it can be claimed that self-treatment has greater accumulation in the poorer quintiles [CI = - 0.09]
Conclusion: Inequality in benefitting from health services reflects the economical situation of households. As a result, it is expected that by taking steps to improve the living conditions, the equity in service utilization will be increased