Volume 29, Issue 5, 2020
DOI: 10.24205/03276716.2020.1136
Effects of Some Indicators on Life Expectancy at Birth and Infant Mortality Rates in Turkey
Abstract
Health indicators are directly related to the health systems and development of countries. Since health indicators are one of the main factors that determine the level of development, insufficiency of health services negatively affects development. Although there are many parameters which can be used to monitor the health system in a country, life expectancy at birth and infant mortality can be used as two main indicators. The aim of this study is to determine the impact of GDP, doctor’s consultation rate, the number of doctors and nurses and hospital beds on life expectancy at birth and infant mortality rates during the period of 15 years in Turkey. The data has been collected from different databases of OECD, World Bank, World Health Organization, Turk Stat and Ministry of Health publications and then has been analyzed by correlation and regression analyzes. In the study, variables such as GDP, number of physicians and nurses, hospital beds and doctor’s consultation rates have been found to be highly correlated with life expectancy at birth and infant mortality rates. As a result of the analyzes performed, it has been determined that the variance in life expectancy at birth is explained by the variables of GDP, number of hospital beds per 1000 people, physician’s consultation rate, number of physicians and nurses per 1000 patients.
Improvement of the quality and quantity of health manpower, improvements in economic indicators and reorganizing of health facilities might help to bring health indicators to the level of developed countries. In this study, in the light of specified indicators, the subject was handled for the first time within the framework of the model established for the 2000-2015 period of Turkey. The study has the quality to contribute to the literature in this field.
Keywords
Health, Health System, Health Indicators, LEAB, IMR