Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (13)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Jones, A. P.
Right arrow Articles by Horwell, C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Jones, A. P.
Right arrow Articles by Horwell, C.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

International Journal of Epidemiology, Vol 28, 101-105, Copyright © 1999 by International Epidemiological Association

ARTICLES

Health service accessibility and deaths from asthma

AP Jones, G Bentham and C Horwell
School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, Norfolk, UK.

BACKGROUND: Good access to health services may be important for effective asthma management amongst patients, thus preventing unnecessary deaths. In a previous study, we found elevated levels of asthma mortality in English local authority districts with poor access to acute hospitals. Here, the relationship between asthma mortality and access to primary and secondary services within the rural region of East Anglia is examined. METHODS: A geographically based descriptive study, within 536 electoral wards in the region of East Anglia, England. Regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between health service accessibility, and mortality from asthma during the period January 1985 to December 1995. RESULTS: After controlling for confounding factors, there was a significant tendency for asthma mortality to increase with travel time to hospital, with a relative risk of 1.07 for each 10-minute increase in journey time (P = 0.04). There was no consistent trend for mortality to increase with travel time to general practitioner surgeries. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study support the conclusions of earlier work that inaccessibility of acute hospital services may increase the risk of asthma mortality. The provision of good access to these facilities may be one factor in reducing the burden of avoidable deaths from asthma.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Emerg. Med. J.Home page
J. Nicholl, J. West, S. Goodacre, and J. Turner
The relationship between distance to hospital and patient mortality in emergencies: an observational study
Emerg. Med. J., September 1, 2007; 24(9): 665 - 668.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Arch. Dis. Child.Home page
T J B Dummer and L Parker
Hospital accessibility and infant death risk
Arch. Dis. Child., March 1, 2004; 89(3): 232 - 234.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med.Home page
J. Randall Curtis and S. Borson
Examining the Link between Sarcoidosis and Depression
Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., February 1, 2001; 163(2): 306 - 308.
[Full Text]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.