Determining the location of suitable satellite centres for chronic kidney disease (CKD) treatment within Edo state, Nigeria

The study investigates the accessibility to healthcare for chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients within Edo state, Nigeria. This was done with the aim of determining the efficiency of the health service available to CKD patients in the area. It involves the use of travel time models to explore the efficiency of the structure of healthcare for CKD patients within the study area as well as evaluate potential scenarios that could improve the CKD healthcare service in the area. Therefore, the study attempted to identify a suitable method of remotely identifying potential locations that can be suitable for providing healthcare for CKD patients at the earlier stages of the disease. In order to minimise the distance between CKD patients and CKD healthcare facilities, there was the need to carry out a location–allocation analysis in order to locate satellite CKD centres close to population centres for each local government area, which would serve as population thresholds for the satellite CKD facilities. This objective was based on the argument that people tend to attend nearby health facilities than attend those that are farther away. The results indicated that the current healthcare structure was not efficient and identified potential locations among the available health centres within the state that would help reduce accessibility issues relating to the number of CKD patients that are being treated within the state.