A review of rural and remote health service indexes: are they relevant for the development of an Australian rural birth index?

ConclusionCurrent planning indexes are applicable for the development of an Australian rural birthing index. The variables in each of the indexes were relevant, however use of flexible sized catchments to accurately account for population births and weighting for extreme geographic isolation needs to be considered. Additionally, socioeconomic variables are required that will reflect need for services particularly for isolated high needs populations. These variables could be used with Australian data and appropriate cut-off points to confirm applicability for maternity services. All of the indexes used similar types of variables and are relevant for the development of an Australian Rural Birth Index. PMID: 25491346 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Rural Remote Health - Category: Rural Health Authors: Tags: BMC Health Serv Res Source Type: research