Methodological approaches to the creation of the indices for a comprehensive assessment of the health state of the population and its provision of medical care

Abstract

Objective: We developed and evaluated the calculation of the human health index (HHI) and the index of the medical provision of the population (IMPP) for a comprehensive assessment of the health state of the population, which would optimally aggregate the indicators of morbidity, disability, and mortality of the population. Materials and methods: In the study, we used the statistical data from the reference book of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine for 2017 on the incidence, disability, mortality of the population of Ukraine and the level of the provision of the medical care of the population, namely, the provision of doctors, nurses, and beds in the hospital to determine the human health index and the index of medical provision of the population of Ukraine. Results: The health index, developed by various authors, did not meet the requirements of the WHO and it has not found its application in healthcare practice yet. The Human Health Index (HHI) has been created by us by analogy with the methodology for the calculation of the Human Development Index (HDI). The calculations show that the lower the human health index, the health level of the population should be considered the worst, and the higher it is, the health level should be considered the best. Having calculated the average value of the index 0.603 and 0.117, we found that the average values of the index lie in the range of 0.603 ± 0.117, i.e., from 0.513 to 0.747.Values below 0.513 are considered low, and above 0.747 - high indices of human health. The average group values of the index of the medical provision of the population in the group of regions with a good health of the population were 0.601, with a satisfactory health – 0.515, with unsatisfactory health – 0.562. Analysis of variance showed that these values did not differ significantly from each other (F = 0.56; p> 0.05). Therefore, all groups of the population in the regions with different health levels have approximately the same level of medical care provision. Conclusions: The above results of the analysis using the necessary methods of mathematical statistics are a cause to assert that the proposed integral indices of human health and medical provision of the population, which adequately reflect the reality and simplicity of the application, can be recommended for the use in the practice of medical statistics both at the level of the Ministry of Health and at the level of the WHO. The level of the health of the population and its provision with medical care in the context of separate regions or countries can be compared with their help.