title: Measuring Equity in Access to Pharmaceutical Services Using Concentration Curve; Model Development.
abstract: This paper has two objectives. First, it establishes a model for scoring the access to pharmaceutical services. Second, it develops a model for measuring socioeconomic indicators independent of the time and place of study. These two measures are used for measuring equity in access to pharmaceutical services using concentration curve. We prepared an open-ended questionnaire and distributed it to academic experts to get their ideas to form access indicators and assign score to each indicator based on the pharmaceutical system. An extensive literature review was undertaken for the selection of indicators in order to determine the socioeconomic status (SES) of individuals. Experts' opinions were also considered for scoring these indicators. These indicators were weighted by the Stepwise Adoption of Weights and were used to develop a model for measuring SES independent of the time and place of study. Nine factors were introduced for assessing the access to pharmaceutical services, based on pharmaceutical systems in middle-income countries. Five indicators were selected for determining the SES of individuals. A model for income classification based on poverty line was established. Likewise, a model for scoring home status based on national minimum wage was introduced. In summary, five important findings emerged from this study. These findings may assist researchers in measuring equity in access to pharmaceutical services and also could help them to apply a model for determining SES independent of the time and place of study. These also could provide a good opportunity for researchers to compare the results of various studies in a reasonable way; particularly in middle-income countries.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacoeconomics and Pharmaceutical Administration, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Majid
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Davari
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacoeconomics and Pharmaceutical Administration, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. ; Students' Scientific Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. ; Department of Health Services Management, School of Management and Medical Information, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Elahe
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Khorasani
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Bakhshizade
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Services Management, School of Management and Medical Information, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Marzie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jafarian Jazi
authors.affiliation: Department of Business Management, Mobarakeh Branch, Islamic Azad University, Mobarakeh, Isfahan, Iran. ; Department of Health Services Management, School of Management and Medical Information, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohsen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ghaffari Darab
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Maracy
keywords: Concentration curve; Equity in access; National minimum wage; Pharmaceutical services; Poverty line; Socioeconomic status