Assessing Comparative Dimensions of Access When Accessing Primary Care Across Different Levels of Rurality

Objective

To assess the comparative importance of dimensions of access when accessing primary care across different levels of rurality in Australia.

Design

A quantitative survey using the paired comparison method.

Setting

Regional, rural, and remote communities in Queensland, Australia, are defined by the Modified Monash Model classification.

Participants

3204 households were surveyed, with 192 responses received (6% response rate). After data cleaning, 163 usable surveys were included in the final analysis.

Main Outcome Measure(s)

Level of importance for seven dimensions of access: availability, geography, affordability, accommodation, timeliness, acceptability, and awareness.

Results

Awareness was the most important dimension, consistent across all ruralities. Timeliness and availability also ranked highly, though their relative importance varied slightly with the level of rurality. Residents of the regional centre and small rural town ranked timeliness second, while remote and very remote community residents ranked availability second. Geography increased in importance as rurality increased, rising from least important for regional centre residents to mid-level importance for remote and very remote residents. Affordability consistently ranked low in importance across all ruralities.

Conclusion

This study reveals differences in the importance of dimensions of access when accessing primary care for residents of regional, rural, and remote Australian communities. These findings suggest that strategies to improve primary care access should be tailored to address the most critical factors across different levels of rurality, focusing on improving awareness, availability, and timeliness of primary care services. The increased importance of geography in the remote and very remote community highlights the need for innovative solutions to overcome geographical barriers for these residents.