Measuring the Development Degree of Cities in Khorasan Razavi Province based on Accessibility index for health services

Abstract

Background: One of the outstanding aspects of social justice is the balanced distribution of various facilities and services, especially health services, because proper and quick access to these services plays a key role in providing community health. The first step in planning for a fair distribution of health services is to determine the level of access to these facilities. The present study was conducted to determine the development degree of cities in Khorasan Razavi province based on health indicators. Methods: In this analytic study 2 methods of numerical taxonomy and Mauritius method and 15 health-therapeutic indicators were utilized to determine and rank the level of development in 24 districts of Khorasan Razavi province. The data were gathered using researcher made questionnaire and by a library method in health centers of cities. Results: The results of this study indicate that based on both methods of numerical taxonomy and Mauritius method, Chenaran area is among the developed cities and the cities of Jouvein, Goghatay, Zavve and Binalood have low level of development. Conclusion: The cities of Khorasan Razavi province were not at the same level of development, and there was a significant difference between the Mauritius coefficient and the numerical taxonomic method. It is suggested that less developed cities should be considered by authorities to provide a balance in health services, and appropriate resources and funds should be allocated to them.  

Keywords

• Development
• Health indicator
• Mauritius coefficient
• Numerical taxonomy