Identifying pharmacy gaps: a spatiotemporal study of multimodal accessibility throughout the day.

Abstract

Background: Accessibility to community pharmacies is crucial for ensuring timely access to medications and essential health services. While accessibility to community pharmacies is critical, disparities driven by temporal and spatial factors persist, resulting in inequities in healthcare access. This study aims to comprehensively assess spatiotemporal and multimodal accessibility to community pharmacies in Lisbon, highlighting the influence of transport modes and time of day on accessibility disparities.

Data and methods: The study employed a methodology that considered five daily time slots and two modes of transport-walking and public transport-to evaluate accessibility to community pharmacies. Data was sourced from road and pedestrian networks, Google API, and GTFS data. Descriptive statistics and spatial analysis were utilized to assess travel time and accessibility disparities across different regions of Lisbon. The analysis focused on both the percentage of residents able to access pharmacies within 10 min and the total number of pharmacies accessible.

Results: ndings reveal significant temporal variations in accessibility, with public transport consistently improving access compared to walking. Accessibility peaks in the evening (6-7 PM), when 83.3% of residential buildings are within a 10-min walking distance of a pharmacy, and 92.7% are reachable by public transport. In contrast, early morning hours (4-5 AM) show the lowest accessibility, with only 8.9% of buildings accessible by walking and 16.1% by public transport. During the daytime (8-9 AM), notable disparities emerge across the city: public transport enhances access in the southwest, northwest, and central areas, while limited pharmacy opening hours constrain accessibility in the north and southeast, where only 108 of 258 pharmacies are operational. Finally, travel time to pharmacy services for city residents highlight significant spatial and temporal disparities in pharmacy accessibility, emphasizing the role of transport modes and service hours in shaping urban healthcare access.

Conclusions: This study underscores the importance of addressing both temporal and spatial factors to ensure equitable accessibility to community pharmacies. The findings suggest the need for targeted policies to improve public transport services during off-peak hours and to extend pharmacy operating hours. Future research should focus on comparative studies across different urban contexts and incorporate more granular data to better understand accessibility to urban services.