Table 1 Definition and explanation of variables
From: Factors associated with patients’ mobility rates within the provinces of Iran
Variable | Definition and explanation | Data Source | |
|---|---|---|---|
Dependent variable | Intra-provincial patient mobility rate | The number of patients who left their cities to receive curative services in hospitals in other cities in the province [21] Intra-provincial patient mobility index is calculated as follows: \(\frac{\mathrm{total}\;\mathrm{number}\;\mathrm{of}\;\mathrm{patients}\;\mathrm{moving}\;\mathrm{within}\;\mathrm{the}\;\mathrm{province}}{\mathrm{total}\;\mathrm{number}\;\mathrm{of}\;\mathrm{hospitalized}\;\mathrm{patients}\;\mathrm{in}\;\mathrm{the}\;\mathrm{province}}\) | Survey using HIS data of governmental hospitals in 349 cities in Iran |
Independent variables | Distribution of hospital beds | The number of hospital beds in each city Hospital beds in this study included all inpatient beds used for acute patients in governmental hospitals but did not include long-term care beds | A survey using the NEDA platforma was filled in all medical universities across the country |
Distribution of specialist physicians | The number of specialist physicians in each city A specialist physician is a medical school graduate who has completed advanced training in a specific field of medicine [22] | ||
Coefficient of variation of health resources (CV) | The coefficient of variation of health resources indicates the degree of dispersion of resources around the mean. A higher coefficient of variation percentage indicates a greater maldistribution of resources in the country [23]. The index is calculated as follows: \(\frac{\mathrm{Standard}\;\mathrm{deviation}}{\mathrm{The}\;\mathrm{average}\;\mathrm{annual}\;\mathrm{number}\;\mathrm{of}\;\mathrm{resources}}\) | ||
Population density | The number of inhabitants per square kilometer which is calculated by dividing the population by the area of the province [24] | Country Statistics Organization and statistical reports | |
Total health expenditure (THE) | Total health expenditures include all health sector expenditures, including costs of treatment, health, prevention, allied health, pharmaceutics, equipment, administration, infrastructure investment, health education, and research. THE is calculated as follows: \(\frac{\mathrm{The}\;\mathrm{absolute}\;\mathrm{value}\;\mathrm{of}\;\mathrm{the}\;\mathrm{total}\;\mathrm{health}\;\mathrm{expenditure}}{\mathrm{Population}\;\mathrm{of}\;\mathrm{each}\;\mathrm{province}}\) | Total health expenditures and the share of out-of-pocket payments in Iranian provinces [25] | |
Human development index (HDI) | Human development index is a composite indicator that shows the impact of economic strategies on human living standards. HDI is calculated by three main factors of income, education, and health [26] | Provincial Human Development Index, a Guide for Efficiency Level Analysis: The Case of Iran [26] | |
Under-five mortality rate (U5MR) | Child mortality indices are principal indicators of population health and well-being. Under-five mortality is defined as the probability of a child born in a given year dying before reaching their fifth birthday and is expressed per 1000 live births [27] | Measuring Iran’s success in achieving Millennium Development Goals 4: a systematic analysis of under-5 mortality at national and subnational levels from 1990 to 2015 [28] |