Impacto incremental de la dispersión poblacional sobre los recursos de personal sanitario en Atención Primaria

Objective

To quantify the incremental impact that population dispersion has on the number of health personnel in Primary Care in Alto Aragón, using a reproducible method.

Method

Descriptive observational study that compares health the number of health personnel (family medicine, pediatrics and nursing) in EAP and PA emergencies in 2019 in an unpopulated and dispersed territory such as Huesca, with the number that would correspond to it by applying population ratios per professional of hypothetical constructs with different population densities.

Results

Huesca, with respect to the national average, has 39% more PA health personnel. There are 239 additional professionals (112 in family medicine, 2 in pediatrics and 115 in nursing), 130 in emergencies and 109 in EAP.

With the average of the five most densely populated provinces, it would reduce this staff by 49%, and with the average of the five least densely populated provinces, it would increase it by 12%.

Conclusions

There is a relationship between low population density and a greater number of family medicine and PC nurses, but not with pediatrics.

The powerful incremental effect that dispersion has on health care spending gives it a relevant role in the regional financing system.

Comparing PC health personnel in scenarios with different population density is a useful method for quantifying the impact of dispersion.