Spatial patterns of health clinic in Malaysia

Abstract

Background: This manuscript aimed to map the spatial distributions of health clinics for public and private sectors in Malaysia. It would assist the stakeholders and responsible authorities in the planning for health service delivery. Methods: Data related to health clinic were gathered from stakeholders. The location of health facilities was geo-coded using a Global Positioning System (GPS) handheld. The average nearest neighbour was used to identify whether health clinics were spatially clustered or dispersed. Hot spot analysis was used to assess high density of health clinics to population ratio and average distance of health clinics distribution. A Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) was used to analyse the requirement of health clinic in a sub-district based on population density and number of health clinics with significant level (p < 0.001). Results: The results of the average nearest neighbour analysis revealed that the distribution of public health clinics was dispersed (p < 0.001) with z-scores 3.95 while the distribution of private clinics was clustered (p < 0.001) with z-score −29.26. Several locations especially urban area was also identified as high density in the sub-district. Conclusions: There is a significant difference in the spatial pattern of public health clinics and private clinics in Malaysia. The information can assist stakeholder and responsible authorities in planning health service delivery.