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Quantifying and explaining accessibility with application to the 2009 H1N1 vaccination campaign
Jessica L Heier Stamm1, Nicoleta Serban2, Julie Swann3
1Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA. jlhs@k-state.edu.
Health Care Management Science
|September 5, 2015
Summary
Public health vaccine distribution faced inequities during the 2009 H1N1 influenza campaign. Spatial accessibility and local factors like population density influenced fairness in vaccine access.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Spatial Epidemiology
- Health Services Research
Background:
- Equitable access to healthcare, particularly during public health emergencies, is a critical concern.
- The 2009 novel H1N1 influenza vaccination campaign aimed for both accessibility and equity.
- Understanding spatial accessibility and horizontal equity is crucial for effective public health interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a methodology for measuring spatial accessibility and identifying inequities in vaccine distribution.
- To analyze local-level associations between vaccine accessibility and geographic, socioeconomic, and healthcare infrastructure factors during the 2009 H1N1 campaign in the U.S.
- To inform policy recommendations for equitable distribution of vaccines in future public health efforts.
Main Methods:
- Integration of optimization, game theory, and spatial statistics to measure potential spatial accessibility.
- Quantification of spatial accessibility using travel distance and scarcity metrics.
- Estimation and inference on local (census-tract level) associations between accessibility and relevant factors.
Main Results:
- Identified significant inequities in vaccine access at the local level during the 2009 H1N1 vaccination campaign.
- Found associations between vaccine inequities and factors such as population density and healthcare infrastructure.
- Demonstrated the utility of the developed methodology for understanding and explaining accessibility disparities.
Conclusions:
- The methodology provides a robust framework for measuring and explaining spatial accessibility and inequities in public health.
- Local-level factors significantly influenced vaccine accessibility, highlighting the need for tailored distribution strategies.
- Findings offer actionable insights for federal, state, and local public health officials to design more equitable distribution plans for future health crises.
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