Identification and Prioritization of Health Indexes in Nomadic Tribespeople by Fuzzy Delphi Method: An Ecological Study.

Journal: Inquiry : a journal of medical care organization, provision and financing
PMID:

Abstract

The migratory lifestyle of nomadic communities, combined with the lack of a suitable health-related organizational structure, has made it difficult to provide health care services that can improve their health status. To achieve the concept of justice in health and sustainable development, it is imperative to improve the health status of all citizens in Iran, which consists of the nomadic communities, and urban and rural populations. In this ecological study national health indexes in nomadic tribespeople was Identified and prioritized by expert panel and fuzzy Delphi method. In the first step, the national health indexes were extracted from the literature, and then indexes that can be measured, evaluated and representative of the nomadic communities were extracted and prioritized by using fuzzy Delphi and TOPSIS methods, Questionnaire options were analyzed according to 3 criteria of economic efficiency, measurability, and simplicity in the form of 13 components and their indicators. The analysis of the results of the fuzzy Delphi method shows that the mental health component has the lowest real score in the criteria of measurability, simplicity and economic efficiency. The child care component has the highest real score in terms of economic efficiency and the vaccination component has the highest real score based on the criteria of measurability and simplicity in nomadic communities. The results of the TOPSIS method show that the components of vaccination, maternal care and child care have the highest priority for attention and investigation of their indicators in this segment of the population. In general, by designing and implementing systems to record the information of priority indexes extracted from the present study, it is possible for responsible organizations to make effective decisions and plans for the improvement of the health status of nomadic communities.

Authors

  • Atefeh Neamati
    MSc of Environmental Health Engineering, Student Research Committee, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
  • Hassan Hashemi
    Advanced Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology Research Center (ADIR), Radiology Department, Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex (IKHC), Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Tehran, No. 1419733141, Iran.
  • Mohammad Reza Samaei
    Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran. Electronic address: mrsamaei@sums.ac.ir.
  • Mansooreh Dehghani
    Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran; Research Center for Health Sciences, Institute of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
  • Saeid Salehi
    Nomad Affairs Organization of Fars Province, Shiraz, Iran.
  • Ahad Amiri Ghareghani
    Nomad Health Expert of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
  • Mohammad Shahbazi
    Delft Center for Systems and Control, Delft University of Technology, Mekelweg 2, 2628 CD Delft, The Netherlands. Department of Mechatronic Systems Engineering, Faculty of New Sciences and Technologies, University of Tehran, Tehran 14399-57131, Iran.
  • Majid Amiri Gharaghani
    Student Research Committee, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.