Da a A icle
A da ase o heal hca e sys ems o
c oss-e ficiency e alua ion in he p esence o
flexible measu e
Sepideh Abolghasem
a
,
*
, Mehdi Toloo
b
, San iago Am
ezqui a
a
a
Depa men o Indus ial Enginee ing, Uni e sidad de los Andes, Bogo 
a, Colombia
b
Depa men o Sys ems Enginee ing, Facul y o Economics, V

SB-Technical Uni e si y o Os a a, Czech
Republic
a icle in o
A icle his o y:
Recei ed 24 Feb ua y 2019
Recei ed in e ised o m 2 June 2019
Accep ed 1 July 2019
A ailable online 6 July 2019
Keywo ds:
Heal hca e sys em
E ficiency measu e
Da a en elopmen analysis
abs ac
This a icle p esen s he da ase o he heal hca e sys ems
indica o s o 120 coun ies du ing 2010e2017, which is ela ed o
he esea ch a icle “C oss-e ficiency e alua ion in he p esence o
flexible measu es wi h an applica ion o heal hca e sys ems”[1].
The da a is collec ed om he Wo ld Bank and selec ed o he 120
coun ies. Depending on hei ole in he pe o mance o he
heal hca e sys ems, he indica o s a e ca ego ized in o inpu (I),
ou pu (O) and flexible measu e (FM) whe e he FM measu e
can play ei he ole o inpu o ou pu in he heal hca e sys em.
The da ase can be used o pe o m e ficiency as well as c oss-
e ficiency analysis o he heal hca e sys ems using me hods such
as da a en elopmen analysis (DEA) in he p esence o flexible
measu e.
©2019 The Au ho s. Published by Else ie Inc. This is an open
access a icle unde he CC BY license (h p://c ea i ecommons.
o g/licenses/by/4.0/).
1. Da a
The da a comp ises a ious indica o s o he heal hca e sys ems in 120 coun ies which a e selec ed
acco ding o hei a ailabili y o he da a in he Wo ld Bank [2] du ing 2010e2017. The dis ibu ion o
*Co esponding au ho .
E-mail add esses: ag.sepideh1[email p o ec ed],[email p o ec ed] (S. Abolghasem).
Con en s lis s a ailable a ScienceDi ec
Da a in b ie
jou nal homepage: www.else ie .com/loca e/dib
h ps://doi.o g/10.1016/j.dib.2019.104239
2352-3409/©2019 The Au ho s. Published by Else ie Inc. This is an open access a icle unde he CC BY license (h p://
c ea i ecommons.o g/licenses/by/4.0/).
Da a in b ie 25 (2019) 104239
he selec ed coun ies among he con inen s is shown in Fig. 1. The indica o s and hei ype: inpu (I),
ou pu (O), o flexible measu e (FM), as well as he summa y o desc ip i e s a is ics o he indica o s,
a e p o ided in Tables 1e6 o each con inen .
2. Expe imen al design, ma e ials and me hods
The da a o he heal hca e sys ems was collec ed om he Wo ld Bank [2] con aining in o ma ion
o di e en indica o s. Then acco ding o he a ailabili y o he in o ma ion du ing 2010e2017, he
da ase was selec ed and compiled o he 120 coun ies. The coun ies a e a anged in he ascending
o de o hei Decision-Making Uni iden i y (DMU ID) in he fi s column. The DMU ID, s a ing om 1
o 120, co esponds o he coun y name o ganized in alphabe ical o de . Subsequen ly, o he pe -
o mance analysis o he heal hca e sys ems using he da a en elopmen analysis (DEA) me hodology,
he indica o s a e ca ego ized in o inpu (I), ou pu (O), and flexible measu e (FM) acco ding o Fig. 2.
The heal hca e sys em measu es we e di ided in o h ee ca ego ies based on hei ole in he
pe o mance o he heal hca e sys em. The popula ion, specialis su gical, bi h a e, o al e ili y a e,
hospi al beds, nu ses and midwi es, physicians we e ca ego ized as he inpu o he s udy and mo -
ali y was ea ed as he ou pu . The a o emen ioned ca ego iza ion is in acco dance wi h simila
s udies on he heal hca e sys em pe o mance in li e a u e [3].
The ca ego iza ion o he indica o s was done acco ding o hei na u al impac on he pe o mance
o he heal hca e sys em. Fo ins ance, popula ion, bi h a e and o al e ili y a e we e ca ego ized as
inpu since i is supposed ha lowe le el o popula ion, bi h a e, and e ili y a e esul s in be e
housing, nu i ion, and access o heal hca e. Besides, we ca ego ized specialis su gical, hospi al beds,
nu ses and midwi es, and physicians as inpu since i is p e e ed ha he heal hca e sys em achie e
he maximum pe o mance equi ing he minimum numbe o specialis su gical wo k o ce, hospi al
beds, nu ses and midwi es, and physicians. Mo ali y was selec ed as he ou pu o he heal hca e
sys em as by defini ion i is conside ed o be a di ec measu e on he pe o mance o he heal hca e
sys em and finally, li e expec ancy was ca ego ized as he only flexible measu e o he s udy.
Specifica ions able
Subjec a ea Ope a ions esea ch and managemen science
Mo e specific subjec
a ea
Da a en elopmen analysis
Type o da a Table
How da a was
acqui ed
Using a mac o de eloped in Excel Visual Basic o acqui e da a which is a ailable on Wo ld bank open
da a
Da a o ma Raw, analyzed wi h desc ip i e and s a is ical da a
Expe imen al ac o s The mos upda ed da a o heal hca e sys ems o 120 coun ies a ailable om 2010 o 2017.
Expe imen al
ea u es
indica o s o in e es we e selec ed and colla ed.
Da a sou ce loca ion Global da a
Da a accessibili y Da a is wi hin his a icle and also accessible om he da abase o he Wo ld Bank open da a: h ps://
da a.wo ldbank.o g
Rela ed esea ch
a icle
S. Abolghasem, M. Toloo, S. Am
ezqui a, “C oss-e ficiency e alua ion in he p esence o flexible
measu es wi h an applica ion o heal hca e sys ems,”Heal h Ca e Manag. Sc., 2019, 1e22 [1].
Value o he da a
The aw da a con ains he indica o s o heal hca e sys ems o 120 coun ies selec ed du ing 2010e2017, which can be
used o pe o mance assessmen o he coun ies in e ms o hei e ficiency in hei heal hca e sys em in compa ison o
hei pee s.
The p o ided da a is use ul o decision make s o pe o m e ficiency analysis using me hodologies such as da a en el-
opmen analysis on he heal hca e sys ems o he 120 coun ies.
The da a is wo hwhile o he esea che s o e ficiency as well as c oss-e ficiency e alua ion o he heal hca e sys ems o
he 120 coun ies unde conside a ion.
The da a is use ul o e alua e a wide ange o e ficiency measu es o he 120 coun ies unde conside a ion besides
compa a i e analysis o con inen al pe o mance and beyond.
S. Abolghasem e al. / Da a in b ie 25 (2019) 1042392
Fig. 1. Dis ibu ion o coun ies wi hin he con inen s.
Table 1
Desc ip i e s a is ics o inpu s, ou pu s and flexible measu es o A ica.
Mean S d. De . Min Max
Inpu s
Popula ion 32237224.5 38877689.9 94677 185989640
Specialis su gical 5.41 11.96 0.17 50.08
Bi h a e 33.35 8.93 10.40 48.14
To al Fe ili y Ra e 4.43 1.38 1.40 7.24
Hospi al beds 1.39 1.27 0.10 6.30
Nu ses and midwi es 1.19 1.34 0.08 5.23
Physicians 0.45 0.80 0.02 3.06
Ou pu
Mo ali y 0.52 0.18 0.32 0.93
Flexible Measu e
Li e expec ancy 62.84 6.54 52.17 75.82
Table 2
Desc ip i e s a is ics o inpu s, ou pu s and flexible measu es o Asia.
Mean S d. De . Min Max
Inpu s
Popula ion 86283051.8 247794083.2 427756 1324171354
Specialis su gical 36.21 36.03 0.03 125.01
Bi h a e 19.61 6.82 7.80 33.21
To al Fe ili y Ra e 2.41 0.84 1.24 4.64
Hospi al beds 4.08 3.61 0.50 13.70
Nu ses and midwi es 4.15 3.28 0.24 12.50
Physicians 1.84 1.25 0.08 4.78
Ou pu
Mo ali y 0.83 0.10 0.43 0.97
Flexible Measu e
Li e expec ancy 72.99 5.45 61.16 83.98
S. Abolghasem e al. / Da a in b ie 25 (2019) 104239 3
I is no ewo hy ha ega ding he selec ed inpu , we pe o med a Pea son co ela ion analysis,
which is a measu e o he s eng h o he associa ion among he measu es. The esul s o he co e-
la ion analysis e ealed no co ela ion among he inpu s. I should be no ed ha wi h he aim o
p e en scaling p oblems o he da a, we ans o med all he da a, by di iding each alue o he da a se
by he maximum alue o he co esponding indica o .
Las ly, we would like o confi m ha he p o ided da a excludes any ype o s a is ical o scaling
o ien ed modifica ion o he da a. The a o emen ioned modifica ions such as s anda diza ion o he
da a was pe o med o he analysis execu ed in he main manusc ip and a e no eflec ed in he da a
able p o ided he e.
Table 3
Desc ip i e s a is ics o inpu s, ou pu s and flexible measu es o Eu ope.
Mean S d. De . Min Max
Inpu s
Popula ion 20949260.07 32028667.21 437418 144342396
Specialis su gical 88.86 31.50 0.81 166.81
Bi h a e 10.59 1.28 7.80 32.22
To al Fe ili y Ra e 1.57 0.20 1.24 4.10
Hospi al beds 5.44 2.13 0.60 11.30
Nu ses and midwi es 8.69 3.99 0.70 18.23
Physicians 3.50 0.94 0.31 6.26
Ou pu
Mo ali y 0.96 0.02 0.75 0.99
Flexible Measu e
Li e expec ancy 78.82 3.84 64.74 82.90
Table 4
Desc ip i e s a is ics o inpu s, ou pu s and flexible measu es o No h Ame ica.
Mean S d. De . Min Max
Inpu s
Popula ion 26023144.56 79772622.31 100963 45004645
Specialis su gical 19.37 12.80 3.40 113.12
Bi h a e 17.18 4.61 10.30 25.27
To al Fe ili y Ra e 2.12 0.45 1.40 2.97
Hospi al beds 2.28 1.56 0.60 9.00
Nu ses and midwi es 3.21 2.92 0.10 11.88
Physicians 1.05 0.80 0.10 4.19
Ou pu
Mo ali y 0.86 0.07 0.69 0.96
Flexible Measu e
Li e expec ancy 74.76 4.38 63.33 82.30
Table 5
Desc ip i e s a is ics o inpu s, ou pu s and flexible measu es o Oceania.
Mean S d. De . Min Max
Inpu s
Popula ion 1442360.63 2715989.62 109643 323127513
Specialis su gical 3.70 2.00 2.30 54.71
Bi h a e 26.69 4.51 12.40 28.71
To al Fe ili y Ra e 3.76 0.84 1.75 3.85
Hospi al beds 2.49 1.68 1.30 5.20
Nu ses and midwi es 2.35 1.37 0.53 9.88
Physicians 0.32 0.27 0.06 2.57
Ou pu
Mo ali y 0.77 0.12 0.66 0.95
Flexible Measu e
Li e expec ancy 70.24 3.24 65.54 78.69
S. Abolghasem e al. / Da a in b ie 25 (2019) 1042394
Acknowledgemen s
This esea ch was suppo ed by he 2019 g an o he school o enginee ing a Uni e sidad de los
Andes Bogo 
a, Colombia and he Czech Science Founda ion h ough p ojec No. 17-23495S.
Conflic o in e es
None.
Appendix A. Supplemen a y da a
Supplemen a y da a o his a icle can be ound online a h ps://doi.o g/10.1016/j.dib.2019.104239.
Re e ences
[1] S. Abolghashem, M. Toloo, S. Am
ezqui a, C oss-e ficiency e alua ion in he p esence o flexible measu es wi h an appli-
ca ion o heal hca e sys ems, Heal h Ca e Manag. Sci. (2019) 1e22.
[2] The Wo ld Bank, 2018. h ps://da a.wo ldbank.o g/.
[3] L. Asandului, M. Roman, P. Fa ulescu, The e ficiency o heal hca e sys ems in Eu ope: a da a en elopmen analysis app oach,
P ocedia Econ. Financ. 10 (2014) 261e268, h ps://doi.o g/10.1016/S2212-5671(14)00301-3.
Table 6
Desc ip i e s a is ics o inpu s, ou pu s and flexible measu es o Sou h Ame ica.
Mean S d. De . Min Max
Inpu s
Popula ion 43378930.22 64011970.53 107122 207652865
Specialis su gical 27.97 17.59 0.58 61.12
Bi h a e 17.87 2.79 14.16 35.05
To al Fe ili y Ra e 2.23 0.30 1.73 5.50
Hospi al beds 2.04 1.10 1.00 5.90
Nu ses and midwi es 2.68 2.47 1.08 7.44
Physicians 1.95 1.19 0.08 3.91
Ou pu
Mo ali y 0.86 0.05 0.56 0.90
Flexible Measu e
Li e expec ancy 74.38 3.19 68.88 76.58
Fig. 2. Inpu , ou pu , and flexible measu es wi h coun ies as DMUs.
S. Abolghasem e al. / Da a in b ie 25 (2019) 104239 5