A multicriteria decision analysis framework to measure equitable healthcare access during COVID-19

The ongoing novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has highlighted the need for individuals to have easy access to healthcare facilities for treatment as well as vaccinations. The surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations during 2020 also underscored the fact that accessibility to nearby hospitals for testing and treatment and vaccination sites is crucial for patients with fever or respiratory symptoms. Although necessary, quantifying healthcare access is challenging as it depends on a complex interaction between underlying socioeconomic and physical factors. In this case study, the authors deployed a Multi Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) approach to uncover the barriers and their effect on healthcare access using an accessibility index. Using the least cost path (LCP) analysis the authors quantified the cost associated with healthcare access from each census block group in the Los Angeles metropolitan area (LA Metro) to the nearest hospital. Social vulnerability reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the daily number of COVID-19 cases from the Los Angeles open data portal and built environment characteristics (slope of the street, car ownership, population density distribution, walkability, traffic collision density, and speed limit) were used to quantify accessibility. The results showed that the census block groups with a social vulnerability index above 0.75 (high vulnerability) had low accessibility owing to the higher cost of access to nearby hospitals and were also coincident with the hotspots for COVID-19 cases and deaths. The findings highlighted the inequitable exposure of socially disadvantaged populations to COVID-19 infections and how the pandemic impacts were exacerbated by the synergistic effect of socioeconomic status and built environment characteristics of the locations where the disadvantaged populations resided. The framework proposed herein could be adapted to geo-target testing/vaccination sites and improve accessibility to healthcare facilities in general and among the socially vulnerable populations to reduce the health risk.

Language

  • English

Media Info

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01834544
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Jan 26 2022 2:14PM