Journal of Education and Health Promotion

Trends of geographic distribution of general practitioners in the public health sector of Iran

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

. Fahimeh Rabbanikhah
. Reza Moradi 1
. Elaheh Mazaheri 2
. Sara Shahbazi 1
. Loghman Barzegar 3
. Ali Kazemi Karyani 3

1 Department of Management and Health Economic, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran,

2 Department of Medical Information Sciences, School of Management and Medical Information Sciences, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran,

3 Research Center for Environmental Determinants of Health, School of Public Health, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran

Abstract
BACKGROUND: Proper distribution of general practitioners (GPs) is one of the challenges in all
health systems. This study aimed to investigate geographical distribution of GPs in public health
sector in Iran between 2010 and 2016.
METHODS: The study is a descriptive–cross‑sectional study. The population of provinces was
extracted from Iran’s National Statistic Center, while information on GPs was gathered from deputy
of statistic and information technology in Ministry of Health and Medical Education. Data analysis was
carried out using descriptive statistics, Gini coefficient (GC), and by drawing geographical distribution
map of GPs. Data analysis was performed by excel 2013, Stata V.14, and Arc GIS software.
RESULTS: The results of calculating the number of GPs per 100,000 population in Iran showed that,
in year 2010, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province had the highest (10.39) and Alborz Province had
the lowest (0.66) number of per capita GPs. The highest number of GPs per 100,000 population
among Iran’s provinces belonged to Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari (8.97), while the lowest belonged
to Tehran (0.28) in year 2016. The GC was 0.31 in year 2010 and 0.283 for 2011. The lowest GC
belonged to year 2012 (GC = 0.272), while the largest coefficient belonged to year 2016 (0.356).
CONCLUSIONS: According to the results of this study, the distribution of GPs in public health sector
of Iran in between 2010 and 2016 showed inequality. Therefore, along with increasing the number
of GPs working in public health sector, it is necessary to pay attention to their distribution. Further
studies are needed to investigate inequality of GPs within and between the provinces.

Keywords

General practitioner
Gini coefficient
health workforces
inequality
public health sector
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Journal of Education and Health Promotion
Volume 8, Issue 7
July 2018
Pages 1-8

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