General practice organisation in France: ecological analysis of mortality and life expectancy.
Higher GP density was associated with longer life expectancy across French departments.
General practice organisation in France: ecological analysis of mortality and life expectancy.
Access to general practitioners has become a major concern in many high-income countries, including France.
This study aimed to analyse the association between the territorial organisation of healthcare and two population health indicators: all-cause mortality and life expectancy at birth.
This is a cross-sectional ecological study using exhaustive French departmental data in 2021 ( n =96).
more GPs per area, longer average lifespan
Hospital bed density was positively associated with mortality but not with life expectancy.
Higher poverty rates and greater proportions of individuals aged≥65 years or living with long-term conditions were negatively associated with health outcomes.
Population density showed inconsistent associations.
Greater GP availability was associated with lower mortality and higher life expectancy at the departmental level in France. These findings support the hypothesis that primary care organisation may be related to population health outcomes.
However, causal inference cannot be established because of the ecological cross-sectional design. MESH: mortality, life expectancy, primary health care, general practice, social determinants of health.