Greater spatial access to care is associated with lower mortality for emergency general surgery.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Emergency general surgery (EGS) diseases are time-sensitive conditions that require urgent surgical evaluation, yet the effect of geographic access to care on outcomes remains unclear. We examined the association of spatial access with outcomes for common EGS conditions.

Methods

A retrospective analysis of twelve 2014 State Inpatient Databases, identifying adults admitted with eight EGS conditions, was performed. We assessed spatial access using the spatial access ratio (SPAR)-an advanced spatial model that accounts for travel distance, hospital capacity, and population demand, normalized against the national mean. Multivariable regression models adjusting for patient and hospital factors were used to evaluate the association between SPAR with (a) in-hospital mort

SUBMITTER: McCrum ML 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10069479 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature