The impact of travel time on geographic distribution of dialysis patients.

ABSTRACT:

Backgrounds

The geographic disparity of prevalence rates among dialysis patients is unclear. We evaluate the association between travel time to dialysis facilities and prevalence rates of dialysis patients living in 1,867 census areas of Hiroshima, Japan. Furthermore, we study the effects of geographic features (mainland or island) on the prevalence rates and assess if these effects modify the association between travel time and prevalence.

Methods

The study subjects were all 7,374 people that were certified as the "renal disabled" by local governments in 2011. The travel time from each patient to the nearest available dialysis facility was calculated by incorporating both travel time and the capacity of all 98 facilities. The effect of travel time on the age- and sex-adjust

SUBMITTER: Kashima S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3474791 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature