Volume 14, Issue 4 (July-August 2015)
Payesh 2015, 14(4): 421-434 |
Back to browse issues page
Download citation:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:
Jila Sadighi, Ali Hosseini, Kazem Mohammad, Saeed Mahdavi, Siamak Mirab Samiee, Nooshafarin Safadel, et al . Modeling geographical accessibility to medical laboratory services in Iran: methodology and its challenges. Payesh 2015; 14 (4) :421-434
URL: http://payeshjournal.ir/article-1-224-en.html
URL: http://payeshjournal.ir/article-1-224-en.html
Jila Sadighi 
1, Ali Hosseini2 , Kazem Mohammad3 , Saeed Mahdavi4 , Siamak Mirab Samiee4 , Nooshafarin Safadel4 , Vahid Banaei5 , Katayoun Jahangiri1 , Rahele Rostami1
1, Ali Hosseini2 , Kazem Mohammad3 , Saeed Mahdavi4 , Siamak Mirab Samiee4 , Nooshafarin Safadel4 , Vahid Banaei5 , Katayoun Jahangiri1 , Rahele Rostami1
1- Health Metrics Research Center, Iranian Institute for Health Sciences Research, ACECR, Tehran, Iran
2- Department of Geography and Urban Planning, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
3- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
4- Reference Health Laboratories Research Center, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Iran
5- Deputy of Architecture & Urban Planning, Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, Iran
2- Department of Geography and Urban Planning, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
3- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
4- Reference Health Laboratories Research Center, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Iran
5- Deputy of Architecture & Urban Planning, Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, Iran
Abstract: (4891 Views)
Objectives: Recent advances in health geography helped to understand more on the role of the geographical distribution and settings of diagnostic and therapeutic centers in the communities. The present study aimed to investigate on modeling geographical access to medical laboratory services in Iran.
Methods: This study conducted in 2014. Study units included medical laboratories, which were active by the end of March 2013 and located within the selected city borders. These laboratories were located in a clinic or in a hospital or were an independent laboratory. The cities were selected by sampling included Takab, Shushtar, Shiraz, Qom and Hamadan. Data analyses performed using expert opinions and using Geographic Information System (GIS). Spatial analysis performed using ArcGIS. The stages of studies were “identifying the urban capacity for medical laboratories”, “determining the land-use compatibility of medical laboratories with other urban land uses and creating mapped information layers in GIS for each of the land-uses”, “determining main criteria for site selection of new medical laboratories and weighting mapped information layers in GIS for each of the criteria”, “determining the optimal site for the new medical laboratories with overlapping mapped information layers of the main criteria in GIS”, “determining the number of new laboratories with considering the site selection of laboratories” and “design a geographical accessibility model to medical laboratory services”. Main challenges for conducting such studies require infrastructures including layer of urban blocks (field of population) and urban land use fields for each city. In addition, many criteria are involved in choosing the optimal location for the establishment of medical laboratories, so it is recommended to use Geographic Information System to facilitate analysis.
Conclusion: Since the results of such studies are useful for policy making and planning in the health system and urban planning, recognizing methodolical challenges can facilitate similar studies in the future.
Methods: This study conducted in 2014. Study units included medical laboratories, which were active by the end of March 2013 and located within the selected city borders. These laboratories were located in a clinic or in a hospital or were an independent laboratory. The cities were selected by sampling included Takab, Shushtar, Shiraz, Qom and Hamadan. Data analyses performed using expert opinions and using Geographic Information System (GIS). Spatial analysis performed using ArcGIS. The stages of studies were “identifying the urban capacity for medical laboratories”, “determining the land-use compatibility of medical laboratories with other urban land uses and creating mapped information layers in GIS for each of the land-uses”, “determining main criteria for site selection of new medical laboratories and weighting mapped information layers in GIS for each of the criteria”, “determining the optimal site for the new medical laboratories with overlapping mapped information layers of the main criteria in GIS”, “determining the number of new laboratories with considering the site selection of laboratories” and “design a geographical accessibility model to medical laboratory services”. Main challenges for conducting such studies require infrastructures including layer of urban blocks (field of population) and urban land use fields for each city. In addition, many criteria are involved in choosing the optimal location for the establishment of medical laboratories, so it is recommended to use Geographic Information System to facilitate analysis.
Conclusion: Since the results of such studies are useful for policy making and planning in the health system and urban planning, recognizing methodolical challenges can facilitate similar studies in the future.
Keywords: Medical Laboratory, Geographical accessibility, Urban planning, Geographical Information Systems (GIS), Iran
type of study: Descriptive |
Accepted: 2015/05/31 | ePublished ahead of print: 2015/06/16 | Published: 2015/07/15
Accepted: 2015/05/31 | ePublished ahead of print: 2015/06/16 | Published: 2015/07/15
| Rights and Permissions | |
 |
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. |