Mapping physical access to health care for older adults in sub-Saharan Africa and implications for the COVID-19 response: a cross-sectional analysis
Summary: Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, the virus causing COVID-19, is rapidly spreading across sub-Saharan Africa. Hospital-based care for COVID-19 is often needed, particularly among older adults. However, a key barrier to accessing hospital care in sub-Saharan Afric...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2020-10-01
|
| Series: | The Lancet. Healthy Longevity |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666756820300106 |
| _version_ | 1818428460632113152 |
|---|---|
| author | Pascal Geldsetzer, ScD Marcel Reinmuth, BSc Paul O Ouma, MSc Sven Lautenbach, PhD Emelda A Okiro, PhD Till Bärnighausen, ProfMD Alexander Zipf, ProfPhD |
| author_facet | Pascal Geldsetzer, ScD Marcel Reinmuth, BSc Paul O Ouma, MSc Sven Lautenbach, PhD Emelda A Okiro, PhD Till Bärnighausen, ProfMD Alexander Zipf, ProfPhD |
| author_sort | Pascal Geldsetzer, ScD |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Summary: Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, the virus causing COVID-19, is rapidly spreading across sub-Saharan Africa. Hospital-based care for COVID-19 is often needed, particularly among older adults. However, a key barrier to accessing hospital care in sub-Saharan Africa is travel time to the nearest health-care facility. To inform the geographical targeting of additional health-care resources, we aimed to estimate travel time at a 1 km × 1 km resolution to the nearest hospital and to the nearest health-care facility of any type for adults aged 60 years and older in sub-Saharan Africa. Methods: We assembled a dataset on the geolocation of health-care facilities, separately for hospitals and any type of health-care facility and including both private-sector and public-sector facilities, using data from the OpenStreetMap project and the Kenya Medical Research Institute–Wellcome Trust Programme. Population data at a 1 km × 1 km resolution were obtained from WorldPop. We estimated travel time to the nearest health-care facility for each 1 km × 1 km grid using a cost–distance algorithm. Findings: 9·6% (95% CI 5·2–16·9) of adults aged 60 years or older across sub-Saharan Africa had an estimated travel time to the nearest hospital of 6 h or longer, varying from 0·0% (0·0–3·7) in Burundi and The Gambia to 40·9% (31·8–50·7) in Sudan. For the nearest health-care facility of any type (whether primary, secondary, or tertiary care), 15·9% (95% CI 10·1–24·4) of adults aged 60 years or older across sub-Saharan Africa had an estimated travel time of 2 h or longer, ranging from 0·4% (0·0–4·4) in Burundi to 59·4% (50·1–69·0) in Sudan. Most countries in sub-Saharan Africa contained populated areas in which adults aged 60 years and older had a travel time to the nearest hospital of 12 h or longer and to the nearest health-care facility of any type of 6 h or longer. The median travel time to the nearest hospital for the fifth of adults aged 60 years or older with the longest travel times was 348 min (IQR 240–576; equal to 5·8 h) for the entire population of sub-Saharan Africa, ranging from 41 min (34–54) in Burundi to 1655 min (1065–2440; equal to 27·6 h) in Gabon. Interpretation: Our high-resolution maps of estimated travel times to both hospitals and health-care facilities of any type can be used by policy makers and non-governmental organisations to help target additional health-care resources, such as makeshift hospitals or transport programmes to existing health-care facilities, to older adults with the least physical access to care. In addition, this analysis shows the locations of population groups most likely to under-report COVID-19 symptoms because of low physical access to health-care facilities. Beyond the COVID-19 response, this study can inform the efforts of countries to improve physical access to care for conditions that are common among older adults in the region, such as chronic non-communicable diseases. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T15:01:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9264b9e0abd9423990000abae3e1241b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2666-7568 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T15:01:59Z |
| publishDate | 2020-10-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Lancet. Healthy Longevity |
| spelling | doaj.art-9264b9e0abd9423990000abae3e1241b2022-12-21T22:56:48ZengElsevierThe Lancet. Healthy Longevity2666-75682020-10-0111e32e42Mapping physical access to health care for older adults in sub-Saharan Africa and implications for the COVID-19 response: a cross-sectional analysisPascal Geldsetzer, ScD0Marcel Reinmuth, BSc1Paul O Ouma, MSc2Sven Lautenbach, PhD3Emelda A Okiro, PhD4Till Bärnighausen, ProfMD5Alexander Zipf, ProfPhD6Division of Primary Care and Population Health, Department of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA; Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany; Correspondence to: Dr Pascal Geldsetzer, Division of Primary Care and Population Health, Department of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USAInstitute of Geography, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany; HeiGIT at Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, GermanyPopulation Health Unit, Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI)–Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Nairobi, KenyaHeiGIT at Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, GermanyPopulation Health Unit, Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI)–Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Nairobi, Kenya; Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UKHeidelberg Institute of Global Health, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany; Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; Africa Health Research Institute, Somkhele, South AfricaInstitute of Geography, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany; HeiGIT at Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, GermanySummary: Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, the virus causing COVID-19, is rapidly spreading across sub-Saharan Africa. Hospital-based care for COVID-19 is often needed, particularly among older adults. However, a key barrier to accessing hospital care in sub-Saharan Africa is travel time to the nearest health-care facility. To inform the geographical targeting of additional health-care resources, we aimed to estimate travel time at a 1 km × 1 km resolution to the nearest hospital and to the nearest health-care facility of any type for adults aged 60 years and older in sub-Saharan Africa. Methods: We assembled a dataset on the geolocation of health-care facilities, separately for hospitals and any type of health-care facility and including both private-sector and public-sector facilities, using data from the OpenStreetMap project and the Kenya Medical Research Institute–Wellcome Trust Programme. Population data at a 1 km × 1 km resolution were obtained from WorldPop. We estimated travel time to the nearest health-care facility for each 1 km × 1 km grid using a cost–distance algorithm. Findings: 9·6% (95% CI 5·2–16·9) of adults aged 60 years or older across sub-Saharan Africa had an estimated travel time to the nearest hospital of 6 h or longer, varying from 0·0% (0·0–3·7) in Burundi and The Gambia to 40·9% (31·8–50·7) in Sudan. For the nearest health-care facility of any type (whether primary, secondary, or tertiary care), 15·9% (95% CI 10·1–24·4) of adults aged 60 years or older across sub-Saharan Africa had an estimated travel time of 2 h or longer, ranging from 0·4% (0·0–4·4) in Burundi to 59·4% (50·1–69·0) in Sudan. Most countries in sub-Saharan Africa contained populated areas in which adults aged 60 years and older had a travel time to the nearest hospital of 12 h or longer and to the nearest health-care facility of any type of 6 h or longer. The median travel time to the nearest hospital for the fifth of adults aged 60 years or older with the longest travel times was 348 min (IQR 240–576; equal to 5·8 h) for the entire population of sub-Saharan Africa, ranging from 41 min (34–54) in Burundi to 1655 min (1065–2440; equal to 27·6 h) in Gabon. Interpretation: Our high-resolution maps of estimated travel times to both hospitals and health-care facilities of any type can be used by policy makers and non-governmental organisations to help target additional health-care resources, such as makeshift hospitals or transport programmes to existing health-care facilities, to older adults with the least physical access to care. In addition, this analysis shows the locations of population groups most likely to under-report COVID-19 symptoms because of low physical access to health-care facilities. Beyond the COVID-19 response, this study can inform the efforts of countries to improve physical access to care for conditions that are common among older adults in the region, such as chronic non-communicable diseases. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666756820300106 |
| spellingShingle | Pascal Geldsetzer, ScD Marcel Reinmuth, BSc Paul O Ouma, MSc Sven Lautenbach, PhD Emelda A Okiro, PhD Till Bärnighausen, ProfMD Alexander Zipf, ProfPhD Mapping physical access to health care for older adults in sub-Saharan Africa and implications for the COVID-19 response: a cross-sectional analysis The Lancet. Healthy Longevity |
| title | Mapping physical access to health care for older adults in sub-Saharan Africa and implications for the COVID-19 response: a cross-sectional analysis |
| title_full | Mapping physical access to health care for older adults in sub-Saharan Africa and implications for the COVID-19 response: a cross-sectional analysis |
| title_fullStr | Mapping physical access to health care for older adults in sub-Saharan Africa and implications for the COVID-19 response: a cross-sectional analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mapping physical access to health care for older adults in sub-Saharan Africa and implications for the COVID-19 response: a cross-sectional analysis |
| title_short | Mapping physical access to health care for older adults in sub-Saharan Africa and implications for the COVID-19 response: a cross-sectional analysis |
| title_sort | mapping physical access to health care for older adults in sub saharan africa and implications for the covid 19 response a cross sectional analysis |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666756820300106 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT pascalgeldsetzerscd mappingphysicalaccesstohealthcareforolderadultsinsubsaharanafricaandimplicationsforthecovid19responseacrosssectionalanalysis AT marcelreinmuthbsc mappingphysicalaccesstohealthcareforolderadultsinsubsaharanafricaandimplicationsforthecovid19responseacrosssectionalanalysis AT paulooumamsc mappingphysicalaccesstohealthcareforolderadultsinsubsaharanafricaandimplicationsforthecovid19responseacrosssectionalanalysis AT svenlautenbachphd mappingphysicalaccesstohealthcareforolderadultsinsubsaharanafricaandimplicationsforthecovid19responseacrosssectionalanalysis AT emeldaaokirophd mappingphysicalaccesstohealthcareforolderadultsinsubsaharanafricaandimplicationsforthecovid19responseacrosssectionalanalysis AT tillbarnighausenprofmd mappingphysicalaccesstohealthcareforolderadultsinsubsaharanafricaandimplicationsforthecovid19responseacrosssectionalanalysis AT alexanderzipfprofphd mappingphysicalaccesstohealthcareforolderadultsinsubsaharanafricaandimplicationsforthecovid19responseacrosssectionalanalysis |