Using Geographic Information Systems for Health Research

Patel, Alka; Waters, Nigel

doi:10.5772/47941

Cited by 10 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…Hence, it would be prudent to improve the availability of and accessibility to POC testing for G6PD deficiency prior to the recommendation of the use of chloroquine for treatment of COVID-19 patients in malaria-endemic countries such as Ghana. Using GIS to inform the implementation of health services has been shown to be useful [42][43][44]. GIS effectively enables the implementation of POC testing in health networks to streamline decision making at the POC [45].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geographical Accessibility to Glucose-6-Phosphate Dioxygenase Deficiency Point-of-Care Testing for Antenatal Care in Ghana

et al. 2020

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Background: Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency screening test is essential for malaria treatment, control, and elimination programs. G6PD deficient individuals are at high risk of severe hemolysis when given anti-malarial drugs such as primaquine, quinine, other sulphonamide-containing medicines, and chloroquine, which has recently been shown to be potent for the treatment of coronavirus disease . We evaluated the geographical accessibility to POC testing for G6PD deficiency in Ghana, a malaria-endemic country. Methods: We obtained the geographic information of 100 randomly sampled clinics previously included in a cross-sectional survey. We also obtained the geolocated data of all public hospitals providing G6PD deficiency testing services in the region. Using ArcGIS 10.5, we quantified geographical access to G6PD deficiency screening test and identified clinics as well as visualize locations with poor access for targeted improvement. The travel time was estimated using an assumed speed of 20 km per hour. Findings: Of the 100 clinics, 58% were Community-based Health Planning and Services facilities, and 42% were sub-district health centers. The majority (92%) were Ghana Health Service facilities, and the remaining 8% were Christian Health Association of Ghana facilities. Access to G6PD deficiency screening test was varied across the districts, and G6PD deficiency screening test was available in all eight public hospitals. This implies that the health facility-to-population ratio for G6PD deficiency testing service was approximately 1: 159,210 (8/1,273,677) population. The spatial analysis quantified the current mean distance to a G6PD deficiency testing service from all locations in the region to be 34 ± 14 km, and travel time (68 ± 27 min). The estimated mean distance from a clinic to a district hospital for G6PD deficiency testing services was 15 ± 11 km, and travel time (46 ± 33 min). Conclusion: Access to POC testing for G6PD deficiency in Ghana was poor. Given the challenges associated with G6PD deficiency, it would be essential to improve access to G6PD deficiency POC testing to facilitate administration of sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine to pregnant women, full implementation of the malaria control program in Ghana, and treatment of COVID-19 patients with chloroquine in malaria-endemic countries. To enable the World Health Organization include appropriate G6PD POC diagnostic tests in its list of essential in-vitro diagnostics for use in resource-limited settings, we recommend a wider evaluation of available POC diagnostic tests for G6PD deficiency, particularly in malaria-endemic countries.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geographical Accessibility to Glucose-6-Phosphate Dioxygenase Deficiency Point-of-Care Testing for Antenatal Care in Ghana

et al. 2020

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“…Using geographical information systems (GIS) to inform the implementation of health services has been shown to be useful [28][29][30]. GIS effectively enables implementation of POC testing in health networks to streamline decision making at the POC [26].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimating the Spatial Accessibility to Blood Group and Rhesus Type Point-of-Care Testing for Maternal Healthcare in Ghana

Kuupiel

Adu²,

Bawontuo

et al. 2019

Diagnostics

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Background: In Ghana, a blood group and rhesus type test is one of the essential recommended screening tests for women during antenatal care since blood transfusion is a key intervention for haemorrhage. We estimated the spatial accessibility to health facilities for blood group and type point-of-care (POC) testing in the Upper East Region (UER), Ghana. Methods: We assembled the attributes and spatial data of hospitals, clinics, and medical laboratories providing blood group and rhesus type POC testing in the UER. We also obtained the spatial data of all the 131 towns, and 94 health centres and community-based health planning and services (CHPS) compounds providing maternal healthcare in the region. We further obtained the topographical data of the region, and travel time estimated using an assumed tricycle speed of 20 km/h. We employed ArcGIS 10.5 to estimate the distance and travel time and locations with poor spatial access identified for priority improvement. Findings: In all, blood group and rhesus type POC testing was available in 18 health facilities comprising eight public hospitals and six health centres, one private hospital, and three medical laboratories used as referral points by neighbouring health centres and CHPS compounds without the service. Of the 94 health centres and CHPS compounds, 51.1% (48/94) and 66.4% (87/131) of the towns were within a 10 km range to a facility providing blood group and rhesus type testing service. The estimated mean distance to a health facility for blood group and rhesus POC testing was 8.9 ± 4.1 km, whilst the mean travel time was 17.8 ± 8.3 min. Builsa South district recorded the longest mean distance (25.6 ± 7.4 km), whilst Bongo district recorded the shortest (3.1 ± 1.9 km). The spatial autocorrelation results showed the health facilities providing blood group and rhesus type POC testing were randomly distributed in the region (Moran Index = 0.29; z-score = 1.37; p = 0.17). Conclusion: This study enabled the identification of district variations in spatial accessibility to blood group and rhesus type POC testing in the region for policy decisions. We urge the health authorities in Ghana to evaluate and implement recommended POC tests such as slide agglutination tests for blood group and rhesus type testing in resource-limited settings.

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“…The majority of the studies on EMS mainly focus on macroscopic planning. The planning related to location [16,17] and route problems [18][19][20][21][22] is primarily considered in previous studies. The location problem has been widely studied over the last few decades.…”

Section: Literature Review 21 Ambulance Planningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Local Dynamic Path Planning for an Ambulance Based on Driving Risk and Attraction Field

et al. 2021

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Path planning is one of the most important aspects for ambulance driving. A local dynamic path planning method based on the potential field theory is presented in this paper. The potential field model includes two components—repulsive potential and attractive potential. Repulsive potential includes road potential, lane potential and obstacle potential. Considering the driving distinction between an ambulance and a regular vehicle, especially in congested traffic, an adaptive potential function for a lane line is constructed in association with traffic conditions. The attractive potential is constructed with target potential, lane-velocity potential and tailgating potential. The design of lane-velocity potential is to characterize the influence of velocity on other lanes so as to prevent unnecessary lane-changing behavior for the sake of time-efficiency. The results obtained from simulation demonstrate that the proposed method yields a good performance for ambulance driving in an urban area, which can provide support for designing an ambulance support system for the ambulance personnel and dispatcher.

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Using Geographic Information Systems for Health Research

Cited by 10 publications

References 60 publications

Geographical Accessibility to Glucose-6-Phosphate Dioxygenase Deficiency Point-of-Care Testing for Antenatal Care in Ghana

Geographical Accessibility to Glucose-6-Phosphate Dioxygenase Deficiency Point-of-Care Testing for Antenatal Care in Ghana

Estimating the Spatial Accessibility to Blood Group and Rhesus Type Point-of-Care Testing for Maternal Healthcare in Ghana

Local Dynamic Path Planning for an Ambulance Based on Driving Risk and Attraction Field

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