title: Regional Disparity in Physical Resources in the Health Sector in Iran: A Comparison of Two Time Periods.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  One of the major health policy issues, in the both developed and developing countries, is the equality in the distribution of health resources. The aim of this study was to investigate the disparity in the distribution of health physical resources across the provinces of Iran in 2001 and 2011.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a cross-sectional retrospective study which investigated inequality in the distribution of health physical resources by three indexes of Gini Coefficient, Gaswirth index and Index of Dissimilarity. The data on provinces were obtained from the yearbook statistics and Ministry of Health, and Medical Education. The Excel software was used to calculated indexes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The finding showed the mean Gini Coefficient for all variables was 0.178 in 2001 and 0.158 in 2011. Besides, the mean Gaswirth index and index of dissimilarity were 11.5 and 1.5% in 2001 and 11 and 1.4% in 2011, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There was slightly inequality in distribution of physical health resources in Iran. According to the results of three indexes, this study showed when Tehran province excluding from total sample, the inequality was decreased.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Health Management and Economics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Akbari Sari
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Environmental Determinants of Health, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran.
authors.forename: Satar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rezaei
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Health Management and Economics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Enayatollah
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Homaie Rad
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Healthcare Management, Marvdasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Marvdasht, Iran.
authors.forename: Nasim
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dehghanian
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Health Management and Economics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Yousef
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chavehpour
keywords: Health sector; Iran; Physical resources; Regional disparity