Children's access to major hospitals estimated to provide pediatric inpatient services 24 h a day in Japan

摘要

To measure the geographic accessibility of pediatric inpatient medical services in Japan, the proportion of children who lived within 5, 10, 20, and 30 km of the nearest hospital providing inpatient services for children and staffed by at least five full-time equivalent pediatricians was calculated. Geographic information systems were used to assess the location of the hospitals, and the latitude, longitude, and child population of 219,100 residential "blocks" in Japan. The population and proportion of children in over- and under-populated prefectures were compared to show differences in accessibility.