TITLE:
Availability and accessibility of diabetes clinics on Trinidad: An analysis using proximity tools in a GIS environment
AUTHORS:
Patricia Boda
KEYWORDS:
Access; Health Care; Caribbean; Trinidad; Diabetes
JOURNAL NAME:
Health,
Vol.5 No.11B,
November
27,
2013
ABSTRACT:
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), account for a growing number of deaths worldwide. The English-speaking Caribbean has the highest per capita burden of NCDs in the region of the Americas [1]. This paper presents an overview of availability and accessibility based on clinic hours and physician fulltime equivalents (FTE) on the island of Trinidad devoted to diabetes and wound care. The project integrates a Geographic Information System (GIS) with epidemiologic and bio-statistical data to provide a necessary spatial analysis not otherwise possible. It examines the island’s ability to effectively deliver treatment to residents with diabetes by providing a geographic perspective to data published on the internet by the Trinidad-Tobago Ministry of Health and the Central Statistical Office. Results indicate a significant regional variability in both numbers of physicians and office hours devoted to diabetes treatment.