Factors Associated with Availability of X-ray Equipment in Public Hospitals: A Finding from Community Health Centres in Maharashtra, India

Abstract

X-ray investigation is vital for patients seeking primary and emergency care for tuberculosis, pneumonia, trauma and other respiratory and abdominal diseases. This paper attempts to study factors associated with availability and functionality of x-ray equipment in public hospitals. Fourth round of District Level Household and Facility Survey (DLHS-4) data for Community Health Centres (CHCs) were used. We identified possible factors related to x-ray services and extracted available factors from DLHS-4 data which may influence the availability and functionality of x-ray units. These factors were grouped under three categories – geographical locations of CHC, physical resources available at CHC and patient workload of CHC. We have applied chi-square test to find out the association between CHC with/without x-ray unit and selected variables. Mean value and standard deviation were calculated for continuous variables.  The study shows that 48.5 per cent CHCs with functional x-ray machine did not have X ray technician to operate it. We found statistically significant relationship (p=<0.05%) between availability and functioning of x-ray unit and number of X-ray technicians in position, years since CHC functioning as 24x7, total number of beds, OT availability, number of OPD patients and number of cases referred for serious ailments from CHC. The study has been able to identify a set of key factors that are related to availability and functionality of an x-ray unit