Article Data

  • Views 721
  • Dowloads 164

Original Research

Open Access

Access to urgent care in Riyadh: a study of equity and personalization

  • Ahmed M. Al-Wathinani1,*,
  • Afnan Alwasedi2
  • Badriyah Almutairi2
  • Reem Alqhatani2
  • Maryam M. Zila2
  • Manahel Alshaer2
  • Musab A. Alharthi3
  • Nawaf A. Albaqami1
  • Krzysztof Goniewicz4

1Department of Emergency Medical Services, Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz College for Emergency Medical Services, King Saud University, 11451 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

2Department of Health Administration, College of Business Administration King Saud University, 12372 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

3Department of Basic Sciences, Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz College for Emergency Medical Services, King Saud University, 11541 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

4Department of Security, Polish Air Force University, 08-521 Deblin, Poland

DOI: 10.22514/sv.2024.110 Vol.20,Issue 9,September 2024 pp.48-55

Submitted: 29 February 2024 Accepted: 31 May 2024

Published: 08 September 2024

*Corresponding Author(s): Ahmed M. Al-Wathinani E-mail: ahmalotaibi@ksu.edu.sa

Abstract

Access to healthcare, while globally recognized as a human right, presents significant disparities, particularly in urgent care accessibility and equity within Riyadh’s neighborhoods. This study addresses the existing gaps in understanding how disparities in urgent care access can impact the broader goal of personalized healthcare in Riyadh’s primary healthcare centers (PHCs). The study aims to examine the equity and accessibility of urgent care services in PHCs across Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, evaluating how these factors contribute to personalized healthcare. We hypothesized that significant differences exist in the accessibility and equity of urgent care services among various Riyadh neighborhoods. We conducted a cross-sectional online survey with 359 participants from diverse Riyadh neighborhoods. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS Version 23.0 to explore regional differences in urgent care accessibility and perceptions of equity. The study revealed significant regional disparities in urgent care accessibility within Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Specifically, residents in the Western region reported the highest access and awareness (80.84% availability within 30 minutes), while those in the Eastern region reported the least (76.19% access to healthcare centers). Additionally, 32.6% of the participants were from the Western region, 24.5% from the Eastern region, 21.7% from the Southern region, and 21.2% from the Northern region. A notable preference was found for seeking urgent care in secondary and military hospitals, attributed to perceived better resources and specialist availability. The findings emphasize the need for targeted interventions to enhance PHC capabilities and utilization, ensuring alignment with personalized healthcare principles that cater to specific regional needs and conditions.


Keywords

Primary healthcare centers; Urgent care; Healthcare equity; Healthcare accessibility; Personalized healthcare


Cite and Share

Ahmed M. Al-Wathinani,Afnan Alwasedi,Badriyah Almutairi,Reem Alqhatani,Maryam M. Zila,Manahel Alshaer,Musab A. Alharthi,Nawaf A. Albaqami,Krzysztof Goniewicz. Access to urgent care in Riyadh: a study of equity and personalization. Signa Vitae. 2024. 20(9);48-55.

References

[1] Ghosh S. Equity in the utilization of healthcare services in India: evidence from National Sample Survey. International Journal of Health Policy and Management. 2014; 2: 29–38.

[2] World Health Organization. Health equity. 2020. Available at: https://www.who.int/health-topics/health-equity#tab=tab_1 (Accessed: 08 November 2022).

[3] Goniewicz M, Włoszczak-Szubzda A, Al-Wathinani AM, Goniewicz K. Resilience in emergency medicine during COVID-19: evaluating staff expectations and preparedness. Journal of Personalized Medicine. 2023; 13: 1545.

[4] Greenwood-Ericksen MB, Kocher K. Trends in emergency department use by rural and urban populations in the United States. JAMA Network Open. 2019; 2: e191919.

[5] Boubacar A. Healthcare financing in low and middle-income countries and achieving universal health coverage. Resolusi. 2021; 4: 86–94.

[6] Wang D, Cao X, Huang X. Equity of accessibility to health care services and identification of underserved areas. Chinese Geographical Science. 2021; 31: 167–180.

[7] Wranik WD, Price S, Haydt SM, Edwards J, Hatfield K, Weir J, et al. Implications of interprofessional primary care team characteristics for health services and patient health outcomes: a systematic review with narrative synthesis. Health Policy. 2019; 123: 550–563.

[8] Cookson R, Doran T, Asaria M, Gupta I, Mujica FP. The inverse care law re-examined: a global perspective. The Lancet. 2021; 397: 828–838.

[9] Cahan EM, Hernandez-Boussard T, Thadaney-Israni S, Rubin DL. Putting the data before the algorithm in big data addressing personalized healthcare. NPJ Digital Medicine. 2019; 2: 78.

[10] Davis CM, Apter AJ, Casillas A, Foggs MB, Louisias M, Morris EC, et al. Health disparities in allergic and immunologic conditions in racial and ethnic underserved populations: a work group report of the AAAAI Committee on the Underserved. The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 2021; 147: 1579–1593.

[11] Godongwana M, De Wet-Billings N, Milovanovic M. The comorbidity of HIV, hypertension and diabetes: a qualitative study exploring the challenges faced by healthcare providers and patients in selected urban and rural health facilities where the ICDM model is implemented in South Africa. BMC Health Services Research. 2021; 21: 647

[12] Pedretti RFE, Hansen D, Ambrosetti M, Back M, Berger T, Ferreira MC, et al. How to optimize the adherence to a guideline-directed medical therapy in the secondary prevention of cardiovascular diseases: a clinical consensus statement from the European Association of Preventive Cardiology. European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. 2023; 30: 149–166.

[13] Das KV, Jones-Harrell C, Fan Y, Ramaswami A, Orlove B, Botchwey N. Understanding subjective well-being: perspectives from psychology and public health. Public Health Reviews. 2020; 41: 25.

[14] Dermody G, Whitehead L, Wilson G, Glass C. The role of virtual reality in improving health outcomes for community-dwelling older adults: systematic review. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 2020; 22: e17331.

[15] Chen AT, Ge S, Cho S, Teng AK, Chu F, Demiris G, et al. Reactions to COVID-19, information and technology use, and social connectedness among older adults with pre-frailty and frailty. Geriatric Nursing. 2021; 42: 188–195.

[16] Erikainen S, Chan S. Contested futures: envisioning “Personalized,” “Stratified,” and “Precision” medicine. New Genetics and Society. 2019; 38: 308–330.

[17] Bilkey GA, Burns BL, Coles EP, Mahede T, Baynam G, Nowak KJ. Optimizing precision medicine for public health. Frontiers in Public Health. 2019; 7: 42.

[18] Goniewicz K, Carlström E, Hertelendy AJ, Burkle FM, Goniewicz M, Lasota D, et al. Integrated healthcare and the dilemma of public health emergencies. Sustainability. 2021; 13: 4517.

[19] Al-Wathinani AM, Alhallaf MA, Borowska-Stefańska M, Wiśniewski S, Sultan MAS, Samman OY, et al. Elevating healthcare: rapid literature review on drone applications for streamlining disaster management and prehospital care in Saudi Arabia. Healthcare. 2023; 11: 1575.

[20] Albalahi N, Al Bargawi M, Kofi M. Awareness and utilization of urgent care services among patients attending Al-Wazarat PHCC in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 2020. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care. 2021; 10: 4452–4462.

[21] Alruwaili A, Khorram-Manesh A, Ratnayake A, Robinson Y, Goniewicz K. The use of prehospital intensive care units in emergencies—a scoping review. Healthcare. 2023; 11: 2892.

[22] Kanchana KT, Youhasan P. Impact of sanitary restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic on the quality of life of the Sri Lankan population. Critical Care Innovations. 2022; 5: 29–39.

[23] Khorram-Manesh A, Gray L, Goniewicz K, Cocco A, Ranse J, Phattharapornjaroen P, et al. Care in emergencies and disasters: can it be person-centered? Patient Education and Counseling. 2024; 118: 108046.

[24] Lahariya C, Sundararaman T, Ved R, Adithyan G, De Graeve H, Jhalani M, et al. What makes primary healthcare facilities functional, and increases the utilization? Learnings from 12 case studies. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care. 2020; 9: 539–546.

[25] Maseko SN, van Staden D, Mhlongo EM. The rising burden of diabetes-related blindness: a case for integration of primary eye care into primary health care in Eswatini. Healthcare. 2021; 9: 835.

[26] White F. Primary health care and public health: foundations of universal health systems. Medical Principles and Practice. 2015; 24: 103–106.

[27] Sugandh F, Chandio M, Raveena F, Kumar L, Karishma F, Khuwaja S, et al. Advances in the management of diabetes mellitus: a focus on personalized medicine. Cureus. 2023; 15: e43697.

[28] Houghton N, Bascolo E, Riego AD. Socioeconomic inequalities in access barriers to seeking health services in four Latin American countries. Pan American Journal of Public Health. 2020; 44: e11.

[29] Mani ZA, Goniewicz K. Adapting disaster preparedness strategies to changing climate patterns in Saudi Arabia: a rapid review. Sustainability. 2023; 15: 14279.

[30] Apor AD, Pagaling GT, Espiritu AI, Jamora RD. Stroke research disparity in Southeast Asia: socioeconomic factors, healthcare delivery, and stroke disease burden. Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases. 2021; 30: 105481.

[31] Sunil Krishnan G, Joshi A, Kaushik V. Bioinformatics in personalized medicine. Advances in Bioinformatics. 2021; 2018: 303–315.

[32] Alburaidi AS, Al-Wathinani AM, Aljuaid MM, Almuhaidly AS, Goniewicz K. Sustainable resilience in healthcare delivery: a comparative study on safety awareness in hospital-based and pre-hospital EMS in times of crisis. Sustainability. 2023; 15: 11593.

[33] Khorram-Manesh A, Burkle Jr FM, Goniewicz K. Pandemics: past, present, and future: multitasking challenges in need of cross-disciplinary, transdisciplinary, and multidisciplinary collaborative solutions. To be published in Osong Public Health and Research Perspectives. 2024. [Preprint].


Abstracted / indexed in

Science Citation Index Expanded (SciSearch) Created as SCI in 1964, Science Citation Index Expanded now indexes over 9,200 of the world’s most impactful journals across 178 scientific disciplines. More than 53 million records and 1.18 billion cited references date back from 1900 to present.

Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition aims to evaluate a journal’s value from multiple perspectives including the journal impact factor, descriptive data about a journal’s open access content as well as contributing authors, and provide readers a transparent and publisher-neutral data & statistics information about the journal.

Chemical Abstracts Service Source Index The CAS Source Index (CASSI) Search Tool is an online resource that can quickly identify or confirm journal titles and abbreviations for publications indexed by CAS since 1907, including serial and non-serial scientific and technical publications.

Index Copernicus The Index Copernicus International (ICI) Journals database’s is an international indexation database of scientific journals. It covered international scientific journals which divided into general information, contents of individual issues, detailed bibliography (references) sections for every publication, as well as full texts of publications in the form of attached files (optional). For now, there are more than 58,000 scientific journals registered at ICI.

Geneva Foundation for Medical Education and Research The Geneva Foundation for Medical Education and Research (GFMER) is a non-profit organization established in 2002 and it works in close collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO). The overall objectives of the Foundation are to promote and develop health education and research programs.

Scopus: CiteScore 1.3 (2023) Scopus is Elsevier's abstract and citation database launched in 2004. Scopus covers nearly 36,377 titles (22,794 active titles and 13,583 Inactive titles) from approximately 11,678 publishers, of which 34,346 are peer-reviewed journals in top-level subject fields: life sciences, social sciences, physical sciences and health sciences.

Embase Embase (often styled EMBASE for Excerpta Medica dataBASE), produced by Elsevier, is a biomedical and pharmacological database of published literature designed to support information managers and pharmacovigilance in complying with the regulatory requirements of a licensed drug.

Submission Turnaround Time

Conferences

Top