The Association between Travel Time and Prenatal Care Attendance

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the association between a patient's travel time to clinic and her prenatal care attendance. Study Design We conducted a retrospective cohort study of women (≥18 years) who received prenatal care and delivered at North Carolina Women's Hospital between July 1, 2014, and June 30, 2016 (n = 2,808 women, 24,021 appointments). We queried demographic data from the electronic medical record and calculated travel time with ArcGIS. Multinomial logistic regression models estimated the association between travel time and attendance, adjusted for sociodemographic covariates. Results For every 10 minutes of additional travel time, women were 1.05 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.02–1.08, p < 0.001) times as likely to arrive late and 1.03 (95% CI: 1.01–1.04, p < 0.001) times as likely to cancel appointments than arrive on time. Travel time did not significantly affect a patient's likelihood of not showing for appointments. Non-Hispanic black patients were 71% more likely to arrive late and 51% more likely to not show for appointments than non-Hispanic white patients (p < 0.05). Publicly insured women were 28% more likely to arrive late to appointments and 82% more likely to not show for appointments than privately insured women (p < 0.05). Conclusion Changes to transportation availability alone may only modestly affect outcomes compared with strategically improving access for sociodemographically marginalized women.

Addressing transportation barriers to health care during the COVID-19 pandemic: Perspectives of care coordinators

“…Chen et al, 2020 , Deterding and Waters, 2021 , Maldonado et al, 2020 , March of Dimes, 2020 , Ngata and MD, MSc. , 2020 , U.S. Department of, 2020 , Wallace et al, 2005 , Weinstein et al, 2014 .…”

Effects of information-knowledge-attitude-practice health education combined with cluster-based care in patients with gestational hypertension

“…That is, individual and collective health promotion is carried out through the distribution of health education manuals to hypertensive patients during pregnancy and their families. [ 13 ] 40 patients in the experimental group were combined with IKAP health education on the basis of the control group. The specific measures were as follows; Data collection: Collect all kinds of information at admission, such as age, education level, living habits, eating habits and occupation; The researchers also gained a comprehensive understanding of the participants family situations and mental health status.…”

Geographic Access to Primary Healthcare Services among Latinos/as/x in Western Alabama

“…Geographic healthcare access (GHA) (defined as the degree to which healthcare services are spatially available to geographically defined groups) to primary care and hospital-based care is crucial for communities to care for their health 11–13 and is a predictor of healthcare utilization 14–16 . A significant proportion of Latinos/as/x who migrated and settled in southern US states at the beginning of the 21st century live in rural areas where GHA to primary healthcare services and hospitals often is inadequate 17,18 .…”

“…10 Geographic healthcare access (GHA) (defined as the degree to which healthcare services are spatially available to geographically defined groups) to primary care and hospital-based care is crucial for communities to care for their health [11][12][13] and is a predictor of healthcare utilization. [14][15][16] A significant proportion of Latinos/as/x who migrated and settled in southern US states at the beginning of the 21st century live in rural areas where GHA to primary healthcare services and hospitals often is inadequate. 17,18 Travel impedances such as long driving times and few public transportation options present barriers to healthcare access for these populations 19,20 Few studies have sought to describe GHA to primary health care in emerging Latino/a/x regions such as the US South, however.…”