IGOT (Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning), University of Lisbon, Portugal.
Res Social Adm Pharm. 2018 Jul;14(7):653-662. doi: 10.1016/j.sapharm.2017.07.014. Epub 2017 Aug 2.
In ageing societies, community pharmacies play an important role in delivering medicines, responsible advising, and other targeted services. Elderly people are among their main consumers, as they use more prescription drugs, need more specific health care, and experience more mobility issues than other age groups. This makes geographical accessibility a relevant concern for them.
To measure geographical pedestrian accessibility to community pharmacies by elderly people in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (LMA).
The number of elderly people living within a 10- and 15-min walk was estimated based on the exploitation of population census data, the address-based location of 801 community pharmacies, and a Google Maps Application Programming Interface (API) method for calculating distances between pharmacies and the centroids of census statistical subsections. Results were compared to figures attained via traditional methods.
In the LMA, 61.2% of the elderly live less than a 10 min walk from the nearest pharmacy and 76.9% live less than 15 min away. This opposes the common view that pharmacies are highly accessible in urban areas. In addition, results show a high spatial variability of proximity to pharmacies.
Despite the illusion of good coverage suggested at the metropolitan scale, accessibility measures demonstrate the existence of pharmaceutical deprivation areas for the elderly. The findings indicate the need for more accuracy in both access measurements and redistribution policies. Measurement methods and population targets should be reconsidered.
在老龄化社会中，社区药店在提供药品、提供负责任的建议和其他有针对性的服务方面发挥着重要作用。老年人是他们的主要消费者之一，因为他们比其他年龄段的人使用更多的处方药，需要更具体的医疗保健，并且面临更多的行动不便问题。这使得地理位置的可达性成为他们关注的一个重要问题。
测量里斯本大都市区（LMA）老年人到达社区药店的地理可达性。
根据人口普查数据的利用、801 家社区药店的地址定位以及谷歌地图应用程序编程接口（API）计算药店与人口普查统计小区中心之间距离的方法，估计了在 10 分钟和 15 分钟步行范围内的老年人数量。结果与传统方法获得的数字进行了比较。
在 LMA，61.2%的老年人居住在离最近的药店不到 10 分钟的步行距离内，76.9%的老年人居住在离最近的药店不到 15 分钟的步行距离内。这与人们普遍认为城市地区的药店高度可达的观点相矛盾。此外，结果还显示了接近药店的空间变异性很高。
尽管在大都市尺度上存在良好覆盖的错觉，但可达性衡量标准表明老年人存在药物匮乏区。研究结果表明，需要更准确地测量可达性，并重新分配政策。应重新考虑测量方法和人口目标。
