Promoting equality in utilization of basic public health services in China: the role of the family doctor contract service.

BACKGROUND: The Family Doctor Contract Service (FDCS) system is a service model for primary care reform launched in 2016 to offer families and individuals active and continuous health care by a team of family doctors within primary care institutions in China. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to estimate socioeconomic-related inequalities in the utilization of basic public health services, and to identify the contribution of FDCS to promoting equality. METHODS: Data for the study were collected from a 2023 cross-sectional household health survey in western China, involving 39,456 participants. The concentration index (C) was employed for analyzing the extent of socioeconomic-related inequalities in the utilization of basic public health services and the coarsened exact matching technique was employed for sensitivity analysis in order to reduce selection bias. RESULTS: Our results indicated pro-poor inequalities in the utilization of health records (C = -0.046), free health check-ups (C = -0.009), and follow-ups for hypertension (C = -0.051). Additionally, a more equitable distribution across the economic spectrum was observed within the FDCS group (people who voluntarily contracted for services) compared to the non-FDCS group. The FDCS demonstrated more favorable positive impacts among individuals with higher (quintiles 60-80%) and the highest (top 20%) socioeconomic status. The FDCS contributed 83.94%, 59.24%, and 36.92% to pro-poor inequalities in the utilization of three basic public health services. These contributions reflected the positive impact of the FDCS on utilization. CONCLUSIONS: Government policy and service delivery models require a paradigm shift to promote a stronger primary healthcare approach to practice, as evidenced by the effectiveness of the FDCS in promoting equality.

School Bullying Victimization and Depression Symptoms in Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Internet Addiction and Moderating Role of Living Areas.

School bullying and depression are both serious social and public health problems among adolescents. Prior studies indicated a correlation between bullying and depression. However, the potential moderators remain largely unexplored. This study aimed to identify the mediating effect of Internet addiction and the moderating effect of living in urban or rural areas in the relationship between school bullying victimization and depression symptoms among Chinese adolescents. This cross-sectional study of adolescents was conducted using two-stage random cluster sampling of students in urban and rural public high schools in China. A moderated mediation model was constructed to uncover the underlying mechanism of school bullying victimization and depression symptoms. A total of 2,376 adolescents (52.65% females, mean age ± SD a 14.69 ± 1.76 years) were included in the study. The prevalence of clinical depression symptoms with a cut-off value of 16 on the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) was 21.76% (95% CI: 20.15, 23.46), and with a cut-off value of 20 on the CES-D was 13.85% (95% CI: 12.51, 15.30) for overall. Our findings indicated a significant positive association between school bullying victimization and depression symptoms (p < 0.01) and a significant mediating effect of Internet addiction in the association between school bullying victimization and depression symptoms (indirect effect = 1.143, 95% CI: 0.677, 1.609; percentage of mediation: 16.7%, 95% CI: 10.3, 23.1). This indirect relationship was partially moderated by the living in urban or rural areas in the mediation process. Specifically, the effect of school bullying victimization on Internet addiction was greater among urban adolescents (simple slope: 0.774, 95% CI: 0.524, 1.024, p < 0.01) than among rural adolescents (simple slope: 0.337, 95% CI: 0.132, 0.543, p < 0.01), but moderating effect of urban-rural areas was not significant on the relationship between Internet addiction and depression symptoms. These findings highlight the mediating role of Internet addiction and the moderating role of living areas in school bullying victimization and adolescents' depression symptoms, which provide evidence for social work, mental health services, and policy interventions for adolescents in China.

Bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis identifies causal associations between migraine and five psychiatric disorders.

Background: The question of whether a correlation exists between migraine and five psychiatric disorders, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive disorder (MDD), anorexia nervosa (AN), bipolar disorder (BIP), and schizophrenia (SCZ), remains a matter of controversy. Hence, this research aims to investigate whether there is a possible association between migraine and five psychiatric disorders. Methods: We performed a bidirectional 2-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to assess the causality between migraine and five psychiatric disorders. Genetic associations of PTSD, MDD, AN, BIP, and SCZ were obtained from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) database and genetic associations of migraine with aura and migraine without aura were obtained from the FinnGen dataset. We used the inverse-variance weighted (IVW), weighted median, weighted mode, MR Pleiotropy RESidual Sum and Outlier (MR-PRESSO), and MR Egger regression methods to evaluate the association of genetically predicted exposure with the risk of outcome. Results: MR demonstrated that MDD was associated with a high risk of migraine without aura (OR = 1.930578, 95% confidence interview (CI): 1.224510, 3.043550, p < 0.05), but BIP was related to a low risk of migraine without aura (OR = 0.758650, 95%CI: 0.639601, 0.899858, p < 0.05). According to the results of reverse MR, migraine with aura was associated with a high risk of BIP (OR = 1.019100, 95%CI: 1.002538, 1.035935, p < 0.05), and migraine without aura was associated with an increased risk of AN (OR = 1.055634, 95%CI: 1.023859, 1.088394, p < 0.05). Conclusion: Our results provide evidence of the potential causal association between migraine and some psychiatric disorders. It may contribute to the prevention of migraine and some psychiatric disorders.

Restricted health service utilization and subsequent positive self-care behavior during the early COVID-19 pandemic in China.

Background: The reallocation of health resources, epidemic prevention and control measures during the COVID-19 pandemic triggered widespread restricted health service utilization, some residents and patients tried positive self-care behavior to maintain their health, yet the efficacy of this intervention remains unclear. Object: Based on the reasoned action approach (RAA) theory, this study aimed to investigate the correlation between self-care behavior and restricted health service utilization among adults in China, trying to discover the vulnerable groups and external and intrinsic factors that affect self-care behavior among Chinese adults. Methods: Data on demographics, socioeconomic, health status, and self-care behavior were collected in "The Early China COVID-19 Survey," a cross-sectional anonymous online survey of the general population in China. Self-care behavior was measured by four indicators: weight control (WC), physical activity (PA), prevention behavior (PB), and online medical consultation (OMC). The multiple linear models and binary logistic regression were used to examine whether restricted health service utilization (RHSU) is associated with self-care behaviors; also, adjusted multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze subgroup heterogeneity. Results: In total, 8,428 adult participants completed the survey, the mean OMC score was 1.51 (SD 1.34), the mean PB score was 18.17 (SD 3.44), and the proportion of participants who engaged in WC and PA was 42.30 and 62.57%, respectively. According to the multiple regression model, the RHSU was significantly positively correlated with all four indicators of self-care (WC: OR = 1.34, p < 0.001, PA: OR = 1.34, p < 0.05, MC: OR = 1.30, p < 0.001, PB: coef = 0.16, p < 0.05). We also observed some significant differences in the intensity of this relationship by subgroup analysis, precisely, OMC (high vs. moderate vs. low infection-risk level: OR = 1.48; 1.41; 1.19, p < 0.1), PA (male vs. female: OR = 1.27;1.06; p < 0.05, high vs. Moderate and low infection-risk level: OR = 1.51; 1.17; 1.02, p < 0.05), PB (Chronic disease groups vs. no: coef = 0.46; 0.1, p < 0.05). Conclusion: Restricted health service utilization predicts more positive self-care behavior, and the intensity of partial correlation was significantly different in the subgroups of sex, actual infection risk level of the living area, and chronic diseases. These findings highlight the urgent demand for self-care behavior among Chinese adults during the pandemic and provide new insights for developing self-care and reducing the burden on the healthcare system in the long term.

Lessons to Learn About the Misdiagnosis of a Rare Case in China: Bart Syndrome or Carmi Syndrome?

Objective: We report a case of Carmi Syndrome in a neonate. Aim: To share our lessons in diagnosis of the case of Carmi Syndrome. Case Report: Carmi Syndrome is an extremely rare autosomal recessive genetic disorder characterized the coexistence of pyloric atresia and junctional epidermolysis bullosa, and with aplasia cutis congenita in approximately 28% patients. In this case, a full-term male neonate was born to a G4P2+1L1 multipara through cesarean section delivery in hospital in a non-consanguineous marriage with 4000mL of II°meconium-stained amniotic fluid. He was found extensive skin loss over lower legs and other parts, with scattered blisters and bilateral microtia. Plain abdominal X-ray revealed a large gastric air bubble with no gas distally. The mother had an intrauterine fetal loss previously for reasons unknown. The dermatologist diagnosed the newborn with Bart Syndrome, while the pediatric surgeon diagnosed congenital pyloric atresia(CPA). The parents refused further treatment and the neonate passed away about 30 hours after birth. Outcome: The neonate passed away about 30 hours after birth. Conclusion: Lessons from this case:①.Rule out Carmi Syndrome in patients with PA, and differentiate Bart syndrome and Carmi Syndrome in patients with abnormal skin manifestations. ②. For rare and/or severe diseases, multidisciplinary teams(MDTs) should be establish. ③. Genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis are necessary prior to subsequent childbearings. ④.Termination of pregnancy might be contemplated if certain indicators are revealed.

Characteristic Dermatoscopic Features of Hyperpigmented Macules on the Faces of Young Children.

The aim was to describe the characteristic dermatoscopic features of hyperpigmented macules on the faces of young children. Sixteen patients with typical clinical presentations of hyperpigmented macules on the faces of young children were included in this study. The lesions were evaluated using a dermatoscope. The clinical and dermatoscopic features were analyzed and summarized. There were 12 boys and 4 girls enrolled in the study. The hyperpigmented macules had an age of onset ranging from 1 to 18 months (mean, 6.12 months). The hyperpigmentation was distributed on the forehead and/or temple, as follows: forehead (n = 8 [50%]); temple (n = 3 [18.8%]); and both sites (n = 5 [31.2%]). Fifteen patients (93.7%) had pseudoreticular pigmentation, 1 patient (6.3%) had reticular pigment with pseudoreticular pigment, and 100% had erythema and linear/branching vessels. Light brown pseudoreticular pigment and linear vessels were shown to be the 2 major dermatoscopic manifestations of hyperpigmented macules on the faces of young children.

New evidence on supplier-induced demand in China's public tertiary hospitals: is the cost of hospitalization higher in the off-season?

Supplier-induced demand (SID) is a long-standing concern in health economics and health system studies; however, empirical evidence on SID-critical to the development of health policy-is difficult to obtain, especially from China. This study, therefore, aims to add new evidence on SID in China's public tertiary hospitals and facilitates the development of evidence-based health policies in China and other countries with similar healthcare systems. For this study, we used patient-level electronic medical records (EMRs) collected from the information systems of tertiary hospitals in a western province in China. From 11 tertiary hospitals, we collected 274,811 hospitalization records dated between 15 February and 30 November 2019. Total expenditure on hospitalization and length of admission of each patient were the primary metrics for measuring SID. We constructed a character indicator to measure the high-season or off-season status of hospitals, and log-linear estimations were applied to estimate the "off-season effect" on hospitalized expenditures and length of admission. We find that the cost of hospitalization is indeed higher in the off-season in China's public tertiary hospitals; specifically, expenditures for patients admitted in the off-season increased by an average of 5.3-7.9% compared to patients admitted in the peak season, while the length of admission in the hospital increased by an average of 6.8% to 10.2%. We also checked the robustness of our findings by performing subgroup analyses of EMRs in the city-level hospitals and surgical group. We name this phenomenon the "hospital off-season effect" and suggest that the main reason for it is inappropriate financial incentives combined with a Fee-For-Services payment method. We suggest that China should work to reform inappropriate financial incentives in public hospitals to eliminate SID by changing its payment and financing compensation system.

Income loss and subsequent poor psychological well-being among the Chinese population during the early COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has had major ramifications for health and the economy at both the individual and collective levels. This study examined exogenous negative changes in household income and their implications on psychological well-being (PWB) among the Chinese population during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Data were drawn from the early China COVID-19 Survey, a cross-sectional anonymous online survey administered to the general population in China. Self-reported PWB was measured using a 5-point Likert scale with five questions related to the participants' recent psychological state. Hierarchical multiple linear regression was employed to examine whether income loss during the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with poor psychological health. RESULTS: This study included 8,428 adults, of which 90% had suffered from a moderate or severe loss of household income due to the early COVID-19 pandemic. Those who had experienced moderate or severe loss of income scored significantly lower on psychological well-being than those who did not experience income loss (19.96 or 18.07 vs. 21.46; P < 0.001); after controlling for confounders, income loss was negatively associated with PWB scores (moderate income loss: B = - 0.603, P < 0.001; severe income loss: B = - 1.261, P < 0.001). An interaction effect existed between the degree of income loss and pre-pandemic income groups. Specifically, participants in the middle-income group who had suffered severe income loss scored the lowest on PWB (B = - 1.529, P < 0.001). There was also a main effect on income loss, such that participants with varying degrees of income loss differed across five dimensions, including anhedonia, sleep problems, irritability or anger, difficulty with concentration, and repeated disturbing dreams related to COVID-19. CONCLUSIONS: Income loss during the pandemic has had detrimental consequences on psychological well-being, and the magnitude of the impact of income loss on psychological well-being varied according to previous income levels. Future policy efforts should be directed toward improving the psychological well-being of the economically vulnerable and helping them recover from lost income in the shortest time possible.

Catastrophic health expenditure of households with hypertension: a comparative study in China.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to understand the impact of multimorbidity on catastrophic health expenditures for people with hypertension. Methods: Data were obtained from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) in 2018, 8,342 adults were included in our analysis. Propensity score matching method was used to compare the risk of catastrophic health expenditures between the hypertension patients (treatment group) and those without any chronic disease (control group) in middle-aged and older adults. Patients with hypertension were also divided into two groups: only hypertension and multimorbidity. Results: Hypertension increased the likelihood of CHE by 11.3% in older adults. Further analysis showed that hypertension alone does not increase the risk of CHE, and the risk of CHE in hypertension patients with multimorbidity was 12.9% higher than those without chronic disease. Conclusion: Our study highlights the importance of healthy management of patients with only hypertension and preventing them from developing multimorbidity.

Evaluating the Impact of COVID-19 on Hospital Profit Compensation Activities: A Difference-in-Differences Event Study Analysis in China.

The impact of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is still being revealed, and little is known about the effect of COVID-19-induced outpatient and inpatient losses on hospital operations in many counties. Hence, we aimed to explore whether hospitals adopted profit compensation activities after the 2020 first-wave outbreak of COVID-19 in China. A total of 2,616,589 hospitalization records from 2018, 2019, and 2020 were extracted from 36 tertiary hospitals in a western province in China; we applied a difference-in-differences event study design to estimate the dynamic effect of COVID-19 on hospitalized patients' total expenses before and after the last confirmed case. We found that average total expenses for each patient increased by 8.7% to 16.7% in the first 25 weeks after the city reopened and hospital admissions returned to normal. Our findings emphasize that the increase in total inpatient expenses was mainly covered by claiming expenses from health insurance and was largely driven by an increase in the expenses for laboratory tests and medical consumables. Our study documents that there were profit compensation activities in hospitals after the 2020 first-wave outbreak of COVID-19 in China, which was driven by the loss of hospitalization admissions during this wave outbreak.

What affects the direct economic burden of non-communicable diseases on middle-aged and older adult people in Shaanxi Province?

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading cause of death worldwide. NCDs affect the health status and the quality of life. In addition, continuous NCDs treatment expenses place a heavy economic burden on families and cause huge economic losses to the society. The prevention and treatment of NCDs and reduction of their economic burden are key public health issues. Considering middle-aged and older adult people as the focus, their basic socio-demographic characteristics and health behavior status of this group, and a pooled cross-sections regression model was then used to analyze the main factors affecting the direct economic burden. The results showed that from 2013 to 2018, the prevalence of NCDs among the middle-aged and older adult people in Shaanxi province as well as the direct economic burden of NCDs increased. The effect factors primarily included sex, age, employment status, income level, type of medical insurance, urban or rural residency, level of the health care-providing institutions, visiting times of 2-week, and length of hospital stay. Several measures can be taken to control the onset of NCDs and reduce their direct economic burden.

Did the Integrated Urban and Rural Resident Basic Medical Insurance Improve Benefit Equity in China?

OBJECTIVES: The reform of merging 2 major health insurance schemes into Urban and Rural Resident Basic Medical Insurance (URRBMI) is recognized as a vital step to safeguard equal healthcare and benefit to each enrollee in China. Against this backdrop, this article aims to evaluate the impact of URRBMI integration on benefit and its contribution to benefit equity. METHODS: The data of this study were derived from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study 2011 and 2015. A total of 11 383 individuals were included in the final sample. Coarsened exact matching with difference-in-difference approach was firstly adopted to investigate the treatment effects of URRBMI on benefits. Next, the decomposition of concentration index (CI) was conducted to explore the contribution of URRBMI to benefit equity. RESULTS: The coarsened exact matching with difference-in-difference results revealed that the consolidation of URRBMI has significantly improved outpatient benefit. The decomposition results showed that the contribution rates of URRBMI scheme to outpatient benefit rate (CI -0.0114), benefit probability (CI 0.0673), compensation fee (CI 0.0076), and reimbursement ratio (CI 0.0483) were 11.26%, -3.38%, -7.67%, and -0.81%, suggesting that this reform makes contribution to the propoor inequity in the outpatient benefit rate and relieves the prorich inequity in outpatient benefit probability and the degree of benefits. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study provide novel evidence of enhanced benefits and benefit equity for outpatient care with the integration of URRBMI. Further efforts should be made to the expansion of URRBMI coverage and the elimination of income disparities that affecting benefit equity.

Multimodal Neural and Behavioral Data Predict Response to Rehabilitation in Chronic Poststroke Aphasia.

BACKGROUND: Poststroke recovery depends on multiple factors and varies greatly across individuals. Using machine learning models, this study investigated the independent and complementary prognostic role of different patient-related factors in predicting response to language rehabilitation after a stroke. METHODS: Fifty-five individuals with chronic poststroke aphasia underwent a battery of standardized assessments and structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging scans, and received 12 weeks of language treatment. Support vector machine and random forest models were constructed to predict responsiveness to treatment using pretreatment behavioral, demographic, and structural and functional neuroimaging data. RESULTS: The best prediction performance was achieved by a support vector machine model trained on aphasia severity, demographics, measures of anatomic integrity and resting-state functional connectivity (F1=0.94). This model resulted in a significantly superior prediction performance compared with support vector machine models trained on all feature sets (F1=0.82, P<0.001) or a single feature set (F1 range=0.68-0.84, P<0.001). Across random forest models, training on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging connectivity data yielded the best F1 score (F1=0.87). CONCLUSIONS: While behavioral, multimodal neuroimaging data and demographic information carry complementary information in predicting response to rehabilitation in chronic poststroke aphasia, functional connectivity of the brain at rest after stroke is a particularly important predictor of responsiveness to treatment, both alone and combined with other patient-related factors.

Whether high government subsidies reduce the healthcare provision of township healthcare centers in rural China.

BACKGROUND: China's government launched a large-scale healthcare reform from 2009. One of the main targets of this round reform was to improve the primary health care system. Major reforms for primary healthcare institutions include increasing government investment. However, there are insufficient empirical studies based on large sample to catch long-term effect of increased government subsidy and lack of sufficient incentives on township healthcare centers (THCs), therefore, this study aims to provide additional empirical evidence on the concern by conducting an empirical analysis of THCs in Shaanxi province in China. METHODS: We collected nine years (2009 to 2017) data of THCs from the Health Finance Annual Report System (HFARS) that was acquired from the Health Commission of Shaanxi Province. We applied two-way fixed effect model and continue difference-in-difference (DID) model to estimate the effect of percentage of government subsidy on medical provision. RESULTS: A clear jump of the average percentage of government subsidy to total revenue of THCs can be found in Shaanxi province in 2011, and the average percentage has been more than 60% after 2011. Continue DID models indicate every 1% percentage of government subsidy to total revenue increase after 2011 resulted in a decrease of 1.1 to 3.5% in THCs healthcare provision (1.9% in medical revenue, 1.2% in outpatient visit, 3.5% in total occupy beds of inpatient, 1.1% in surgery revenue, 2.1% in sickbed utilization rate). The results show that the THCs with high government subsidy reduce the number of medical services after 2011. CONCLUSIONS: We think that it is no doubt that the government should take more responsibility for the financing of primary healthcare institutions, the problem is when government plays a central role in the financing and delivery of primary health care services, more effective incentives should be developed.

Gender differences in depressive symptoms of rural Chinese grandparents caring for grandchildren.

BACKGROUND: Caring for grandchildren is regarded as one of the principle roles of middle- and old-aged adults, especially among rural Chinese grandparents. This study aims to examine the gender differences in depressive symptoms of rural Chinese grandparents caring for grandchildren, based on the gender differences in grandparental role engagement and the theories of role strain and role enhancement. METHODS: A total of 4833 rural citizens with one or more grandchildren were selected from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) conducted in 2015. Grandchild care was measured by continuous variable (duration) and categorical variable (no care, low intensity, moderate intensity, high intensity). Depressive symptoms were assessed by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). We used coarsened exact matching (CEM) to balance the covariates of caregivers and non-caregivers. Following CEM, 1975 non-caregivers and 2212 caregivers were identified (N = 4187). Multilevel linear regression was employed to examine the gender differences in depressive symptoms. We also tested for the moderating role of gender on the association between grandchild care and depressive symptoms. RESULTS: Grandmothers were more likely to provide grandchild care (54.42% vs 51.43%) at high intensity (61.46% vs 51.01%), with longer duration (39.24 h vs 33.15 h) than that given by grandfathers. Grandmothers suffered more from depressive symptoms than grandfathers, and such gap increased when grandparents were involved in high-intensity care. Grandmothers providing grandchild care, particularly at moderate intensity, were associated with fewer depressive symptoms (Coef. = - 0.087, 95%CI: - 0.163, - 0.010; Coef. = - 0.291, 95%CI: - 0.435, - 0.147), compared with non-caregivers. Grandmothers giving moderate intensity of grandchild care were also associated with fewer depressive symptoms (Coef. = - 0.171, 95% CI: - 0.313, - 0.029), compared with those with low-intensity care. However, such associations were not significant among grandfathers. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings highlight the gender differences in depressive symptoms of rural Chinese grandparents caring for grandchildren. Grandparents should be encouraged to engage in grandchild care, but at moderate intensity. The health status of middle- and old-aged adults, particularly females, should be monitored closely. Humanistic care, preventive care and curative treatment strategies focusing on such populations should be developed and refined.

Relationships Between Anxiety Symptoms, Hopelessness and Suicidal Ideation Among Parental Caregivers of Mandarin-Speaking Children With Speech Impairment: The Mediating Effect of Depressive Symptoms.

Background: Determining the mental health status of parents who chronically care for a child with speech impairment is important for developing appropriate interventions to improve both parents' and children's health and achieve a win-win situation. Unfortunately, no study in China has explored this issue. This study investigated the differences in four aspects of mental health between maternal and paternal caregivers for the Mandarin-speaking children with speech impairment and determine whether depressive symptoms mediate the relationships between anxiety symptoms and suicidal ideation, hopelessness and suicidal ideation. Methods: This cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted in February 2020 by sending a link to the predesigned electronic questionnaire in WeChat. Standardized assessment tools were employed. Hierarchical multiple logistic regression was conducted to examine the associations between various factors and suicidal ideation, and two separate structural equation models were performed to evaluate the mediating effects of depressive symptoms in the relationship between anxiety symptoms and suicidal ideation as well as between hopelessness and suicidal ideation. Results: This study included 446 parental caregivers of Mandarin-speaking children with speech impairment. Paternal caregivers had greater score than maternal caregivers on loss of motivation (one of the subdomains of hopelessness). Somatic complications of the child (OR = 2.73, 95% CI: 1.09-6.67) and depressive symptoms (OR = 3.38, 95% CI: 1.83-6.30) were positively associated with caregivers' suicidal ideation. Having speech therapy of child (OR = 0.54, 95% CI: 0.29-0.98) was negatively correlated with caregivers' suicidal ideation. There was direct effect of depressive symptoms on suicidal ideation. Depressive symptoms play mediating roles on the relationships between anxiety symptoms (ß = 0.171, p < 0.001) as well as between hopelessness and suicidal ideation (ß = 0.187, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Paternal and maternal caregivers of Mandarin-speaking children with speech impairment suffered from mental health problems. Preventive strategies and interventions to ameliorate parental psychological well-being, and health care policies to increase the accessibility to speech therapy care of children with speech impairment are imperative.

Comparison of inequity in health-related quality of life among unemployed and employed individuals in China.

BACKGROUND: In China, achieving health equity has been regarded as a key issue for health reform and development in the current context. It is well known that unemployment has a negative effect on health. However, few studies have addressed the association between unemployment and inequity in health-related quality of life (HRQOL). This study aims to compare the inequality and inequity in HRQOL between the unemployed and employed in China. METHODS: The material regarding this study was derived from the Chinese National Health Services Survey of Shaanxi Province for 2013. We controlled for confounding factors by utilizing the coarsened exact matching method. Finally, 7524 employed individuals and 283 unemployed individuals who were 15 to 64 years old in urban areas were included in this study. We used HRQOL as the outcome variable, which was evaluated by using the Chinese version of EQ-5D-3L. The health concentration index, decomposition analysis based on the Tobit model, and the horizontal inequity index were employed to compute the socioeconomic-related equity between the unemployed and employed and the contribution of various factors. RESULTS: After matching, unemployed people tended to have poorer EQ-5D utility scores than employed people. There were statistically pro-rich inequalities in HRQOL among both employed and unemployed people, and the pro-rich health inequity of unemployed people was substantially higher than that of employed people. Economic status, age, education, smoking and health insurance were the factors influencing inequality in HRQOL between employed and unemployed individuals. Education status and basic health insurance have reduced the pro-rich inequity in HRQOL for unemployed people. CONCLUSION: It is suggested that unemployment intensifies inequality and inequity in HRQOL. According to policymakers, basic health insurance is still a critical health policy for improving health equity for the unemployed. Intervention initiatives aiming to tackle long-term unemployment through active labour market programmes, narrow economic gaps, improve educational equity and promote the health status of the unemployed should be considered by the government to achieve health equity.

The effects of family physician-contracted service on health-related quality of life and equity in health in China.

BACKGROUND: Family physician-contracted service (FPCs) has been recently implemented in Chinese primary care settings. This study was aimed at measuring the effects of FPCs on residents' health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and equity in health among the Chinese population. METHODS: The study data was drawn from the 2018 household health survey (Shaanxi Province, China) using multistage, stratified cluster random sampling. We measured HRQoL using EQ-5D-3L based on the Chinese-specific time trade-off values set. Coarsened exact matching (CEM) technique was used to control for confounding factors between residents with and without a contracted family physician. The concentration index (C) was calculated to measure equity in health. RESULTS: Individuals with a contracted family physician had significantly higher HRQoL than those without, after data matching (0.9355 vs. 0.8995; P <  0.001). Additionally, the inequity in HRQoL among respondents with a contracted family physician was significantly lower than those without a contracted family physician (Cs of EQ-5D utility score: 0.0084 vs. 0.0263; p <  0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the positive effects of FPCs on HRQoL and socioeconomic-related equity in HRQoL. Future efforts should prioritize the economically and educationally disadvantaged groups, the expansion of service coverage, and the competency of family physician teams to further enhance health outcome and equity in health.

Evaluating the effect of hierarchical medical system on health seeking behavior: A difference-in-differences analysis in China.

The unbalanced allocation of healthcare resources and the underutilization of primary care facilities are the core problems that restrict the current healthcare reforms in China. In order to encourage residents to go to primary care facilities, China implemented the Hierarchical Medical System (HMS) in 2015. This study aims to evaluate the effect of HMS on health seeking behavior in China using panel data. Statistics for the study were derived from China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018, and China health and family planning statistical yearbook 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018. We employed the difference-in-differences (DID) model with multiple periods. In total, 61,932 residents were incorporated for a final sample covered 25 provinces. The results indicated that the implementation of HMS had a significantly positive effect on the probability of urban residents going to primary care facilities for contact. However, the effect of HMS was not significant for rural residents. Basic health insurance was a significant factor for directing residents to primary care facilities. Self-assessed health, chronic disease, economic level and educational status were also found to be focal factors of health seeking behavior. In conclusion, the introduction of HMS has led to improved health seeking behavior and is worth putting more effort into. For policy makers, basic medical insurance is still an important health policy that enables systematic health seeking behavior. Initiatives to continue to expand the adjustment range of economic incentives should be adopted to promote the implementation of HMS. However, the effect of HMS in chronic disease is poor and efforts to formulate chronic disease as a breakthrough to HMS should be carried out. Moreover, the government should increase the publicity of HMS.

Measuring spatial accessibility and within-province disparities in accessibility to county hospitals in Shaanxi Province of Western China based on web mapping navigation data.

BACKGROUND: The Chinese government proposed the "XIAO BING BU CHU CUN, DA BING BU CHU XIAN" initiative in 2016, which states the rate of health care service provided by county hospitals should reach 90% of overall health care service provision. The prerequisite for achieving this goal is that citizens should be able to access county hospitals' services conveniently and impartially. However, little research has been done on the actual levels of the spatial accessibility of citizens to county hospitals in Western China. Therefore, we aimed to measure the spatial accessibility to county hospitals for county residents and to identify any regional disparities in Shaanxi Province in Western China. METHODS: We implemented a novel method - involving utilizing navigation data from the AutoNavi web mapping system (knows as Gaode map in Chinese) - to assess the time and distance from villages and neighborhoods to the county hospitals. The navigation data were collected by request through an application-programming-interface using a web crawler (web data extraction tool) in Python. The shortest driving time and distance were extracted from the navigation data. The travel impedance to the nearest provider (TINP) indicator was used to measure spatial accessibility. RESULTS: The results show that county residents in Western China's Shaanxi Province have poor spatial accessibility to county hospitals. Only 68.8% of villages and neighborhoods are within 60 min travel time (based on driving mode) to a county hospital, while 13.4% of such villages and neighborhoods are beyond 90 min travel time. Moreover, a significant within-province disparity exists, with residents in the central area enjoying the best accessibility to county hospitals, while the northern and southern areas still need improvements in accessibility. CONCLUSIONS: Focused health resource planning is required to improve the spatial accessibility to county hospitals and to eliminate regional disparities. Further studies are called for to integrate the navigation data of web mapping systems with GIS methods to the measure spatial accessibility of health facilities in more complex contexts.