Results by GDP classification
| World (n=121) | Low Income (n=14) | Lower Middle Income (n=30) | Upper Middle Income (n=34) | High Income (n=43) | P value | |
| Number of paediatricians per country, median (IQR) | 650 (180–3500) | 70 (25–200) | 600 (250–5000) | 1700 (256-6000) | 1400 (500-3,500) | <0.001** |
| Number of paediatricians per 100 000 children<18 years†, median (IQR) | 32 (5–74) | 0.5 (0.3–1.4) | 6 (3–32) | 30 (15–60) | 72 (44–118) | <0.001** |
| Number of new paediatricians entering the workforce each year per 100 000 children<18 years in country†, median (IQR) | 1.44 (0.42–3.07) | 0.08 (0.03–0.18) | 0.45 (0.02–0.93) | 1.36 (0.57–2.09) | 3.10 (2.05–4.06) | 0.01** |
| Number of countries reporting transition from paediatric care‡ | ||||||
| by age 12 years, no. (%) | 3 (3) | 0 | 3 (10) | 0 | 0 | 0.13* |
| by age 15 years, no. (%) | 47 (39) | 9 (64) | 15 (50) | 13 (39) | 10 (23) | 0.002* |
| by age 18 years, no. (%) | 98 (82) | 14 (100) | 27 (90) | 26 (79) | 31 (72) | 0.01* |
| by age 21 years, no. (%) | 118 (98) | 14 (100) | 30 (100) | 33 (100) | 41 (95) | 0.18* |
| Countries reporting regular paediatric promotive and preventive care received, no. (%) | 110 (91) | 9 (64) | 26 (87) | 33 (97) | 42 (98) | <0.001* |
| Percentage of primary care provided by non-physician, median (IQR) | 28 (9–58) | 82 (70–85) | 34 (11–61) | 28.5 (2–51) | 24 (9–45) | 0.01** |
| Percentage of primary care provided by general physician, family doctor or medical officer, median (IQR) | 21 (11–36) | 12 (7–16) | 24 (14–42) | 18 (10–27) | 23 (10–36) | 0.76** |
| Percentage of primary care provided by paediatrician, median (IQR) | 33 (13–57) | 17 (8–22) | 30 (12–49) | 44 (23–56) | 46 (7–73) | 0.04** |
| Number of physicians per 100 000 population,§ median (IQR) | 158.1 (43.4–290.0) | 6.6 (3.0–12.0) | 76.6 (20.1–154.6) | 158.1 (85.4–246.3) | 299 (196.4–379.1) | <0.001** |
*P values were calculated using Cuzick’s nonparametric tests for trend for continuous variables (based on Z statistics with 1 df).
**P values were calculated using Cochran-Armitage trend tests for categorical variables (based on χ² statistics with 1 df).
†The State of the World’s Children 2016 Statistical Tables (27 June 2016). Retrieved 31 October 2017, from https://data.unicef.org/resources/state-worlds-children-2016-statistical-tables/
‡Age of transition from paediatric care not reported by one country in the upper middle income group.
§The 2016 update, Global Health Workforce Statistics, WHO, Geneva (http://www.who.int/hrh/statistics/hwfstats/).
GDP, gross domestic product.