Table 1 Comparison of variables used in each of the four identified indexes
Index | 1. Rural birth index [ [17]] | 2. Trauma model [ [24]] | 3. Index of rural access [ [23]] | 4. Cardiac aria index [ [22]] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Service | Maternity | Trauma | GP* services | Cardiac emergency & cardiac rehabilitation |
Level or capability of service | levels of maternity service dependent on level of staff and procedural care available | Level of trauma service- I,II,III- complexity of trauma care | Primary care services | **AIHW Hospital types large -small including community level services |
Population | Rural British Columbia, Canada | Rural British Columbia, Canada | Rural Victoria, Australia | Total Australian- rural and urban pop locations (20,387) |
Catchment | 60Â minute to a ***CS service | 60Â minute to a trauma service | Ration of *GPs to population in a 60Â minute catchment | Population access to a service within 60Â minutes for an emergency cardiac response |
Index Specific | Birth numbers within the 60Â minute catchment of a service with ***CS capability | Risk of trauma, ^SES and access to trauma service | Ratio of *GP services to population in a 60Â minute catchment | Access to emerg care in a cardiac event and for cardiac rehabilitation |
Isolation | Seven categories of time <30 min- >4 hrs to a service with CS capability | travel time to trauma centre- highest quintile of need assigned to least serviced communities (metro excluded) | 60 min catchments- ‘distance decay’ after 10 minutes | Decreasing levels of services as remoteness increases- 8 levels hospital |
Vulnerability | 1 data set ^SES advantage-disadvantage | ^^VANDIX ^^^SEFI | 6 SES measures that impact health outcomes including: Indigenous & #CALD included | N/A |
^SES vulnerability to trauma | ||||
Emergency treatment | one hour an important threshold for emergency care | One hour critical time to treatment for trauma | N/A | One hour critical time to treatment in a cardiac event |