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A spatial analysis of the health and longevity of Taiwanese people

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Abstract

Initiated in 1995, Taiwan’s National Health Insurance (NHI) programme now covers over 99.6% of its residents, ensuring widespread medical access. Despite this, regional disparities in medical resource allocation persist. This study investigates the potential urban–rural divide in life expectancy and healthcare utilisation. Drawing data from the Ministry of the Interior (population registration records), NHI Research Database (medical utilisation) and Ministry of Health and Welfare (leading causes of death), we employ spatial analysis, visualisation tools and the standardised mortality ratio for assessing regional disparities. Our findings reveal distinct regional mortality differences in Taiwan, with lower rates in northern counties and higher ones in mountainous regions. However, healthcare utilisation shows no significant regional variations. Notably, patterns of overall mortality rates and primary death causes demonstrate spatial clustering.

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Data availability

The leading causes of death data can be accessed on the Taiwan Open Government Data website at https://data.gov.tw/datasets/search?p=1&size=10&s=_score_desc&rtt=1004. However, data on medical utilization and population registration records are not publicly accessible due to confidentiality and privacy concerns.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Statistics, National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China

    Jack C. Yue & Ming-Huei Tu

  2. Research Center for Nonlinear Analysis and Optimization, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

    Jack C. Yue

  3. Department of Risk Management and Insurance, Feng Chia University, Taichung, Taiwan, Republic of China

    Yin-Yee Leong

Authors
  1. Jack C. Yue
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  2. Ming-Huei Tu
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  3. Yin-Yee Leong
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Correspondence to Jack C. Yue.

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Yue, J.C., Tu, MH. & Leong, YY. A spatial analysis of the health and longevity of Taiwanese people. Geneva Pap Risk Insur Issues Pract (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41288-024-00322-3

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