SCIENTIA GEOGRAPHICA SINICA ›› 2023, Vol. 43 ›› Issue (8): 1350-1359.doi: 10.13249/j.cnki.sgs.2023.08.004

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Spatial characteristics and influencing factors of pediatric cancer healthcare resources supply in China

Li Xuelian(), Du Fangjuan(), Xie Xiao, Li Jiahong, Wu Hanyan   

  1. School of Karst Science, Guizhou Normal University, State Engineering Technology Institutefor Karst Desertification Control, Guiyang 550001, Guizhou, China
  • Received:2022-09-14 Revised:2022-11-24 Accepted:2023-06-02 Online:2023-08-20 Published:2023-08-30
  • Contact: Du Fangjuan E-mail:lixuelian789@163.com;dfj521@gznu.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China(41861029);Guizhou Science and Technology Plan([2022] 254);Academic New Talents Funds of Guizhou Normal University([2018] 5769-21)

Abstract:

Malignant tumor is one of the most prevalent diseases threatening the lives of children and adolescents. Access to specialist medical resources is conducive to accurate diagnosis and treatment, significantly improving their cure rates, and optimizing the allocation of healthcare resources can enhance the accessibility of medical services for children with cancer. Thus, this paper reviews the research progress of spatial allocation of health care resources and contributing factors. As a major research subject in health geography, the study of health care resource allocation has focused on public health care resources mainly, but not enough attention has been paid to specific diseases, particularly pediatric oncology health care resources. Based on the data of pediatric surveillance sites, certified hospitals, number of discharged children with cancer of different disease types and children with cancer mobility, this paper used nuclear density, standard deviation ellipse, spatial autocorrelation and coefficient of variation to analyze the spatial pattern of Chinese pediatric cancer healthcare resources, geographic detector are used to explore the influencing factor of spatial pattern of pediatric cancer healthcare resources. Last but not least, policies to optimize the spatial allocation of medical resources for pediatric oncology are summarized. The results have indicated that: 1) There are more pediatric cancer healthcare resources in eastern region than in western region of China, which significantly concentrate in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, The Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta region, especially centered in provincial capitals and municipalities. Focusing on the provincial scale, medical resources for pediatric oncology are concentrated in the provincial capitals, while the rest of the cities are less distributed. Medical resources for children with solid tumor are more concentrated in a few large cities than for leukemia and lymphoma, which has led to a large scale medical treatment flows for children with cancer, concentrated in provincial capitals and municipalities, such as Beijing, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Guangdong, Chongqing and Shanxi. 2) The spatial allocation of pediatric cancer healthcare resources is closely related to regional socio-economic development, especially the per capita disposable income, education level, GDP per capita and urbanization rate, while the size distribution of children and the medical insurance are not significant, which is not consistent with other factors influencing the spatial allocation of public health care resources. There is a mismatch between the spatial allocation of medical resources for pediatric oncology and children's needs, and the existing health insurance coverage for pediatric oncology as a specific disease is not sufficient. It is recommended to enhance the treatment capacity of pediatric oncology surveillance sites, promote the secondary medical centers for rare pediatric cancer, and strengthen medical insurance and social support to reduce the treatment burden of children with cancer and their families.

Key words: pediatric cancer, healthcare resources, regional disparity, China

CLC Number: 

  • R197.1