Medication adherence and costs of medical care among patients with Parkinson's disease: an observational study using electronic medical records.

BACKGROUND: Adherence to antiparkinsonian drugs (APDs) is critical for patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), for which medication is the main therapeutic strategy. Previous studies have focused on specific disorders in a single system when assessing clinical factors affecting adherence to PD treatment, and no international comparative data are available on the medical costs for Chinese patients with PD. The present study aimed to evaluate medication adherence and its associated factors among Chinese patients with PD using a systematic approach and to explore the impact of adequate medication adherence on direct medical costs. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted using the electronic medical records of patients with PD from a medical center in China. Patients with a minimum of two APD prescriptions from January 1, 2016 to August 15, 2018 were included. Medication possession ratio (MPR) and proportion of days covered were used to measure APD adherence. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to identify factors affecting APD adherence. Gamma regression analysis was used to explore the impact of APD adherence on direct medical costs. RESULTS: In total, 1,712 patients were included in the study, and the mean MPR was 0.68 (± 0.25). Increased number of APDs and all medications, and higher daily levodopa-equivalent doses resulted in higher MPR (mean difference [MD] = 0.04 [0.03-0.05]; MD = 0.02 [0.01-0.03]; MD = 0.03 [0.01-0.04], respectively); combined digestive system diseases, epilepsy, or older age resulted in lower MPR (MD = -0.06 [-0.09 to -0.03]; MD = -0.07 [-0.14 to -0.01]; MD = -0.02 [-0.03 to -0.01], respectively). Higher APD adherence resulted in higher direct medical costs, including APD and other outpatient costs. For a 0.3 increase in MPR, the two costs increased by $34.42 ($25.43-$43.41) and $14.63 ($4.86-$24.39) per year, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: APD adherence rate among Chinese patients with PD was moderate and related primarily to age, comorbidities, and healthcare costs. The factors should be considered when prescribing APDs.

Exploring the impact of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), early adequate feeding and access to health care on urban-rural disparities of child malnutrition in China.

To explore the effects of UNICEF-suggested modifiable factors, that is, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), early adequate feeding and health care on child malnutrition, and to examine the extent to which each factor contributes to urban-rural disparities of child malnutrition in China. Pooling two waves of regionally representative survey data from Jilin, China, in 2013 and 2018, we report on urban-rural relative risks (RRs) in the prevalence of child stunting, wasting and overweight. We employ Poisson regression to examine the effects of urban-rural setting and the three modifiable factors on the prevalence of each malnutrition outcome, that is, stunting, wasting and overweight. We perform mediation analyses to estimate the extent to which each modifiable factor could explain the urban-rural disparities in each malnutrition outcome. The prevalence of stunting, wasting and overweight were 10.9%, 6.3% and 24.7% in urban, and 27.9%, 8.2% and 35.9% in rural Jilin, respectively. The rural to urban crude RR was 2.55 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.92-3.39) for stunting, while the corresponding RRs for wasting and overweight were 1.31 (95% CI: 0.84-2.03) and 1.45 (95% CI: 1.20-1.76), respectively. The rural to urban RR for stunting reduced to 2.01 (95% CI: 1.44-2.79) after adjusting for WASH. The mediation analyses show that WASH could mediate 23.96% (95% CI: 4.34-43.58%) of the urban-rural disparities for stunting, while early adequate feeding and health care had no effects. To close the persistent urban-rural gap in child malnutrition, the specific context of rural China suggests that a multi-sectoral approach is warranted that focuses on the sanitation environment and other wider social determinants of health.

Factors affecting the frequency and contents of routine antenatal care in remote rural China in 2009-2016: An observational study.

OBJECTIVE: We assessed factors associated with the frequency and contents of antenatal care (ANC) in remote rural China, including the province of residence and individual-level factors. DESIGN: Survey-based cross-sectional study. SETTING: Five provinces in remote rural China: Guizhou, Hunan, Jilin, Ningxia and Shaanxi. SAMPLE: A cohort of 3918 women with a live birth in 2009-2016. METHODS: Poisson regression. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: ANC frequency: five or more visits, starting in the first trimester. ANC contents: coverage of six care components and overuse of ultrasound. RESULTS: Three-quarters (72.9%) of women had five or more ANC visits, starting in the first trimester; 68.8% received all six care components and 94.5% had three or more ultrasounds. Only 30.9% of women sought ANC from township hospitals, paying between $3.80 and $25.80 per visit. ANC frequency and contents were associated with the socio-economic characteristics of the women, but provincial effects were much greater, even after adjusting for individual factors. Women living in Guizhou and Ningxia, the two poorest provinces, with high proportions of ethnic minorities, were particularly underserved. Compared with women in Shaanxi, women in Guizhou were 33% (adjusted RR 0.67, 95% CI 0.61-0.74) less likely to receive five or more ANC visits, starting in the first trimester; women in Ningxia were 17% less likely (adjusted RR 0.83, 95% CI 0.76-0.90) to receive all six care components. CONCLUSIONS: The province of residence was a stronger predictor of ANC frequency and contents than the individual characteristics of women in China, suggesting that strengthening the decentralised system of the financing and organisation of ANC at the province level is crucial for achieving success. Future efforts are warranted to engage subregional administrations. TWEETABLE ABSTRACT: The province of residence was a stronger predictor of ANC frequency and contents than the individual characteristics of women.

Investigating the relationship between consultation length and quality of tele-dermatology E-consults in China: a cross-sectional standardized patient study.

BACKGROUND: Consultation length, the time a health provider spend with the patient during a consultation, is a crucial aspect of patient-physician interaction. Prior studies that assessed the relationship between consultation length and quality of care were mainly based on offline visits. Research was lacking in E-consults settings, an emerging modality for primary health care. This study aims to examine the association between consultation length and the quality of E-consults services. METHODS: We defined as standardized patient script to present classic urticaria symptoms in asynchronous E-consults at tertiary public hospitals in Beijing and Hangzhou, China. We appraised consultation length using six indicators, time waiting for first response, time waiting for each response, time for consultation, total times of provider's responses, total words of provider's all responses, and average words of provider's each response. We appraised E-consults services quality using five indicators building on China's clinical guidelines (adherence to checklist; accurate diagnosis; appropriate prescription; providing lifestyle modification advice; and patient satisfaction). We performed ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions and logistic regressions to investigate the association between each indictor of consultation length and E-consults services quality. RESULTS: Providers who responded more quickly were more likely to provide lifestyle modification advice and achieve better patient satisfaction, without compromising process, diagnosis, and prescribing quality; Providers who spent more time with patients were likely to adhere to clinical checklists; Providers with more times and words of responses were significantly more likely to adhere to the clinical checklist, provide an accurate diagnosis, appropriate prescription, and lifestyle modification advice, which achieved better satisfaction rate from the patient as well. CONCLUSIONS: The times and words that health providers provide in E-consult can serve as a proxy measure for quality of care. It is essential and urgent to establish rules to regulate the consultation length for Direct-to-consumer telemedicine to ensure adequate patient-provider interaction and improve service quality to promote digital health better.

Quality Assessment of Hypertension Treatment-Related Information on WeChat: Cross-sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: The WeChat platform has become a primary source for medical information in China. However, no study has been conducted to explore the quality of information on WeChat for the treatment of hypertension, the leading chronic condition. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the quality of information in articles on WeChat that are related to hypertension treatment from the aspects of credibility, concreteness, accuracy, and completeness. METHODS: We searched for all information related to hypertension treatment on WeChat based on several inclusion and exclusion criteria. We used 2 tools to evaluate information quality, and 2 independent reviewers performed the assessment with the 2 tools separately. First, we adopted the DISCERN instrument to assess the credibility and concreteness of the treatment information, with the outcomes classified into five grades: excellent, good, fair, poor, and very poor. Second, we applied the Chinese Guidelines for Prevention and Treatment of Hypertension (2018 edition) to evaluate the accuracy and completeness of the article information with regard to specific medical content. Third, we combined the results from the 2 assessments to arrive at the overall quality of the articles and explored the differences between, and associations of, the 2 independent assessments. RESULTS: Of the 223 articles that were retrieved, 130 (58.3%) full texts were included. Of these 130 articles, 81 (62.3%) described therapeutic measures for hypertension. The assessment based on the DISCERN instrument reported a mean score of 31.22 (SD 8.46). There were no articles rated excellent (mean score >63); most (111/130, 85.4%) of the articles did not refer to the consequences-in particular, quality of life-of no treatment. For specific medical content, adherence to the Chinese Guidelines for Prevention and Treatment of Hypertension was generally low in terms of accuracy and completeness, and there was much erroneous information. The overall mean quality score was 10.18 (SD 2.22) for the 130 articles, and the scores differed significantly across the 3 types (P=.03) and 5 sources (P=.02). Articles with references achieved higher scores for quality than those reporting none (P<.001). The results from the DISCERN assessment and the medical content scores were highly correlated (ρ=0.58; P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: The quality of hypertension treatment-related information on the WeChat platform is low. Future work is warranted to regulate information sources and strengthen references. For the treatment of hypertension, crucial information on the consequences of no treatment is urgently needed.

[Prediction of Prenatal Ultrasound Screening Staff's Situation in Beijing Based on ARIMA Model].

Objective To understand the current situation and predict the trends in number and composition of prenatal ultrasound screening staff in Beijing. Methods We analyzed the region,age,professional title and other characteristics of prenatal ultrasound screening personnel in Beijing during 2007-2015.We then built an ARIMA model basing on the current situation to predict the number and composition of the staff in 2016-2020. Results The number of prenatal ultrasound screening staff showed an upward trend in 2007-2020 and was predicted to reach 1269 in 2020.During this period,the educational achievement and professional title of the staff showed a downward trend,and the working years became shorter,mainly below 5 years.The proportion of resident doctors remained at 26.6%,and that of the staff receiving further education would reach 43.2% by the end of 2020. Conclusion The prediction under ARIMA model suggests that efforts should be made to strengthen the training of young doctors and provide them opportunities for further study.

[Operation of Prenatal Ultrasound Screening Institutions in Beijing from 2010 to 2015].

Objective To learn the capability and functioning status of prenatal ultrasound screening institutions in Beijing and inform decision-making on the optimization of prenatal screening management. Method By using the data from the second and the third National Special Survey on Prenatal Screening and Prenatal Diagnostic Services in Beijing,we analyzed the distribution,human resources,workload,technology,and equipment of ultrasound screening institutions in Beijing as well as their changing trends. Results From 2013 to 2015,there were 100 prenatal ultrasound screening institutions,833 technicians,and 383 prenatal ultrasound screening instruments in Beijing,offering over 600 000 service sessions.In contrast,there were 93 institutions with a total service volume of 644 100 between 2010 and 2012.The general hospitals,tertiary hospitals,and urban areas(especially urban functional development areas and new urban development areas)were the main sources of the services.In particular,the maternal and child health care hospitals in Beijing provided the highest amount of services per unit of resources.The average prenatal ultrasound screening rate was about 98.05%.The service delivery trended to transfer from urban areas to remote county areas and from secondary institutions to tertiary institutions.Conclusion The operation and management of prenatal ultrasound screening institutions in Beijing are relatively standard.The ultrasound screening rate is relatively high in the second trimester,and the distribution of the services has constantly been improved since 2010.

Health care-seeking behaviours and health expenditures in adults aged 45 years and older in China, 2011-2013.

OBJECTIVES: To provide an assessment of China's progress to universal health coverage (UHC) from the perspective of people-centred care. METHODS: We obtained data on 28 103 participants from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHALRS) during 2011-2013. We used logistic regressions and generalised linear models to analyse care-seeking behaviours and medical expenditures. RESULTS: We found that 95.5% of the subjects were covered by social health insurance in 2013, and nearly 60% subjects in need of medical care were self-medicated. Health insurance was a strong predictor for the access to outpatient care. Use of pure and mixed self-medication increased by 15% and 32% respectively, while use of pure outpatient care fell by 10% between 2011 and 2013, after adjusting for predisposing, service needs and enabling factors. Such trends were particularly evident for the Urban Resident Basic Medical Insurance and the New Cooperative Medical Scheme, which covered more than 80%. The monthly out-of-pocket medical expenditures and the probability of encountering catastrophic health expenditures for outpatient care were four times larger than that for self-medication. Between 2011 and 2013, outpatient care medical costs rose by nearly 50%, whereas there was no such obvious trend for self-medication. People with insurance schemes offering lower cost sharing incurred consistently higher out-of-pocket outpatient payments. CONCLUSIONS: The monitoring of global progress to UHC should incorporate self-medication. In China, it seems that the current reform and the huge government investment have not resulted in access to affordable quality care. To achieve UHC, not only universal insurance, but system-level efforts are needed.

Extending access to essential services against constraints: the three-tier health service delivery system in rural China (1949-1980).

BACKGROUND: China has made remarkable progress in scaling up essential services during the last six decades, making health care increasingly available in rural areas. This was partly achieved through the building of a three-tier health system in the 1950s, established as a linked network with health service facilities at county, township and village level, to extend services to the whole population. METHODS: We developed a Theory of Change to chart the policy context, contents and mechanisms that may have facilitated the establishment of the three-tier health service delivery system in rural China. We systematically synthesized the best available evidence on how China achieved universal access to essential services in resource-scarce rural settings, with a particular emphasis on the experiences learned before the 1980s, when the country suffered a particularly acute lack of resources. RESULTS: The search identified only three peered-reviewed articles that fit our criteria for scientific rigor. We therefore drew extensively on government policy documents, and triangulated them with other publications and key informant interviews. We found that China's three-tier health service delivery system was established in response to acute health challenges, including high fertility and mortality rates. Health system resources were extremely low in view of the needs and insufficient to extend access to even basic care. With strong political commitment to rural health and a "health-for-all" policy vision underlying implementation, a three-tier health service delivery model connecting villages, townships and counties was quickly established. We identified several factors that contributed to the success of the three-tier system in China: a realistic health human resource development strategy, use of mass campaigns as a vehicle to increase demand, an innovative financing mechanisms, public-private partnership models in the early stages of scale up, and an integrated approach to service delivery. An implementation process involving gradual adaptation and incorporation of the lessons learnt was also essential. CONCLUSIONS: China's 60 year experience in establishing a de-professionalized, community-based, health service delivery model that is economically feasible, institutionally and culturally appropriate mechanism can be useful to other low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) seeking to extend essential services. Lessons can be drawn from both reform content and from its implementation pathway, identifying the political, institutional and contextual factors shaping the three-tier delivery model over time.

Comparing Different Weights to Construct Composite Indicators of Maternal and Child's Basic Health Services from the Prospective of Continuum of Care:Based on Data from the National Health Services Survey 2008 and 2013 in Jilin Province.

Objective To construct composite indicators of maternal and child's basic health services using different weights from the prospective of continuum of care and to compare them based on data from the National Health Services Survey 2008 and 2013 in Jilin Province. Methods The study selected indicators based on the countdown and the Lives Saved Tool(LiST),considering the data availability from the 2008 and 2013 National Health Surveys in Jilin.Equal weights,equal weights for different areas,epidemiology weights,and principal component weights were used to construct different composite indicators.Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient was used to test the internal consistency.Analysis of variance of randomized block design was used to test the differences.The Spearman's correlation coefficient was calculated to compare the rank correlation.The maternal mortality,children under 5 years old mortality rate,and children under 5 years old stunting incidence were used as the outcome indicators to test the validity using correlation analysis. Results Finally 13 indicators were selected,with the Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient value exceeding 0.7,which means acceptable internal consistency of these indicators.Analysis of variance showed that the scores were not significantly the same(F=8.14,P<0.01).The rank correlations among equal weights,principal component weights,and equal weights for different areas composite indicators were quite strong,and the Spearman's correlation coefficient between either two were all above 0.9,while the epidemiology weights composite indicator got smaller Spearman's correlation coefficient with equal weights,principal component weights,and equal weights for different areas composite indicators(0.697,0.671,and 0.818,respectively).The composite indicator using epidemiology weights showed significant negative correlation with children under 5 years old mortality rate and children under 5 years old stunting incidence(R2=0.168,P<0.05;R2=0.398,P<0.01,respectively).The composite indicators using equal weights,equal weights for different areas and principal component weights only showed significant negative correlation with children under 5 years old stunting incidence(R2=0.238,R2=0.304,R2=0.232,P<0.01 for all,respectively).Conclusion The composite indicator using epidemiology objective weights has some predictive value for maternal and child health outcomes.

Health system strengthening and hypertension awareness, treatment and control: data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study.

OBJECTIVE: To monitor hypertension prevalence, awareness, treatment and control in China two to three years after major reform of the health system. METHODS: Data from a national survey conducted in 2011-2012 among Chinese people aged 45 years or older - which included detailed anthropometric measurements - were used to estimate the prevalence of hypertension and the percentages of hypertensive individuals who were unaware of, receiving no treatment for, and/or not controlling their hypertension well. Modified Poisson regressions were used to estimate relative risks (RRs). FINDINGS: At the time of the survey, nearly 40% of Chinese people aged 45 years or older had a hypertensive disorder. Of the individuals with hypertension, more than 40% were unaware of their condition, about 50% were receiving no medication for it and about 80% were not controlling it well. Compared with the other hypertensive individuals, those who were members of insurance schemes that covered the costs of outpatient care were more likely to be aware of their hypertension (adjusted RR, aRR: 0.737; 95% confidence interval, CI: 0.619-0.878) to be receiving treatment for it (aRR: 0.795; 95% CI: 0.680-0.929) and to be controlling it effectively (aRR: 0.903; 95% CI: 0.817-0.996). CONCLUSION: In China many cases of hypertension are going undetected and untreated, even though the health system appears to deliver effective care to individuals who are aware of their hypertension. A reduction in the costs of outpatient care to patients would probably improve the management of hypertension in China.

[Analysis on urban elderly people's preference for prevention and treatment of non-communicable diseases].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the outpatient provider preference and its influencing factors among residents older than 45 years in China's urban areas. METHODS: The data of China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey (CHARLS) taking place in the year 2011 were analyzed with the method of multinominal logistic regression. RESULTS: In the last month, the rates of respondents with hypertension or/and diabetes who were reported being ill and seeking treatment were higher than that of those without such diseases. 51.73% of the hypertensive and 64.81% of the diabetic preferred hospitals to community health service (CHS) and private clinics. Regression results showed that people with Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance (UEBMI), higher education level, higher capacity to pay and diabetes tended to choose hospitals rather than CHS. CONCLUSION: Urban people with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) preferred to use hospitals rather than the CHS, which reflected CHS's low performance in NCDs management. UEBMI failed to channel off the insured people to CHS. CHS needs to strengthen its ability to manage NCDs, and UEBMI should implement measures to attract patients' flow to CHS.

Socioeconomic inequalities in depressive symptoms in China: The role of social capital.

This cohort study used the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS, 2015-2018) to investigate the effects of socioeconomic status and social capital to the incidence of depressive symptoms among middle-aged and older individuals in China, incorporating a sample size of 9949 participants. Socioeconomic status, social capital and other explanatory variables were collected in 2015, while depressive symptoms were assessed in 2018. Basic characteristics and social capital measures were compared between urban and rural residents using the chi-square test. Logistic regression was used to explore the relationship between socioeconomic status, social capital and depressive symptoms, and the Karlson, Holm, and Breen (KHB) method was employed to verify the mediating role of social capital. We reported persistent socioeconomic inequalities in depressive symptoms, with rural residents and the illiterate having 1.45 times and 1.34 times higher odds of depression. We ascertained social capital from both the cognitive and structural constructs, where we enriched the measurement of structural social capital from three specific dimensions, i.e., informal interaction, altruism, and formal social participation. We found that both cognitive and structural social capital were associated with lower incidence of depressive symptoms, where informal interaction had the largest effect. The mediation analysis further illustrated that informal interaction contributed most to explain 6 %-12 % of the socioeconomic inequalities in depressive symptoms. These results highlighted the unsatisfied mental wellbeing of the vulnerable older people living in rural areas. The finding suggested that older people may benefit more from personal interactions than formal participations. To fulfill the Health in All vision, government and social organizations should consider how to create opportunities to better integrate the older people into the community.

Generic substitution of amlodipine is not associated with increased risk of mortality or adverse cardiovascular events: An observational cohort study.

This study aims to assess clinical outcomes following switching from originator to generic amlodipine. This population-based, matched, cohort study included users of originator amlodipine using claims data during 2018-2020 from a health system in Tianjin, China, in which usage of generic amlodipine was promoted by a drug procurement policy, the national volume-based procurement. Non-switchers refer to those remained on originator after the policy, while pure-switchers were those who switched to and continued using generic amlodipine, and back-switchers were those switched to generic amlodipine but then back to the originator. Propensity score matching generates comparable non-switchers and pure-switchers pairs, and non-switchers and back-switchers pairs. The primary outcome was major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs), defined as all-cause mortality, stroke, and myocardial infarction during follow-up (April 1, 2019 to December 30, 2020). Secondary outcomes included heart failure, atrial fibrillation, and adherence to amlodipine. The hazard ratio (HR) for each clinical outcome was assessed through Cox proportional hazard regression. In total, 5943 non-switchers, 2949 pure-switchers, and 3061 back-switchers were included (mean age: 62.9 years; 55.5% men). For the matched pairs, pure-switchers (N = 2180) presented no additional risks of clinical outcomes compared to non-switchers (N = 4360) (e.g., MACEs: 2.86 vs. 2.95 events per 100 person-years; HR = 0.97 [95%CI: 0.70-1.33]). Back-switchers (N = 1998) also presented no additional risk compared to non-switchers (N = 3996) for most outcomes except for stroke (HR = 1.55 [95%CI: 1.03-2.34]). Pure-switchers and back-switchers all had better amlodipine adherence than non-switchers. Generic substitution of amlodipine is not associated with increased risk of cardiovascular events or all-cause mortality, but improves medicine adherence.

Short-term effects of air pollutants on hospital admissions for asthma among older adults: a multi-city time series study in Southwest, China.

Background: This study aimed to explore the relationship between air pollution and hospital admissions for asthma in older adults, and to further assess the health and economic burden of asthma admissions attributable to air pollution. Methods: We collected information on asthma cases in people over 65 years of age from nine cities in Sichuan province, as well as air pollution and meteorological data. The relationship between short-term air pollutant exposure and daily asthma hospitalizations was analyzed using the generalized additive model (GAM), and stratified by gender, age, and season. In addition, we assessed the economic burden of hospitalization for air pollution-related asthma in older adults using the cost of disease approach. Results: The single pollutant model showed that every 1 mg/m3 increase in CO was linked with an increase in daily hospitalizations for older adults with asthma, with relative risk values of 1.327 (95% CI: 1.116-1.577) at lag7. Each 10 µg/m3 increase in NO2, O3, PM10, PM2.5 and SO2, on asthma hospitalization, with relative risk values of 1.044 (95% CI: 1.011-1.078), 1.018 (95% CI: 1.002-1.034), 1.013 (95% CI: 1.004-1.022), 1.015 (95% CI: 1.003-1.028) and 1.13 (95% CI: 1.041-1.227), respectively. Stratified analysis shows that stronger associations between air pollution and asthma HAs among older adult in females, those aged 65-69 years, and in the warm season, although all of the differences between subgroups did not reach statistical significance. During the study period, the number of asthma hospitalizations attributable to PM2.5, PM10, and NO2 pollution was 764, 581 and 95, respectively, which resulted in a total economic cost of 6.222 million CNY, 4.73 million CNY and 0.776 million CNY, respectively. Conclusion: This study suggests that short-term exposure to air pollutants is positively associated with an increase in numbers of asthma of people over 65 years of age in Sichuan province, and short-term exposure to excessive PM and NO2 brings health and economic burden to individuals and society.

Role of residential greenspace in the trajectory of major neurological disorders: A longitudinal study in UK Biobank.

BACKGROUND: Stroke and dementia are major neurological disorders that contribute significantly to disease burden and are interlinked in terms of risk. Nevertheless, there is currently no study investigating the influence of residential greenspace on the trajectory of these neurological disorders. METHODS: This longitudinal study utilized data from the UK Biobank. Exposure to residential greenspace was measured by the percentage of total greenspace coverage within a 300-meter buffer zone surrounding the participants' residences. A multistate model was employed to illustrate the trajectory of major neurological disorders, and a piecewise Cox regression model was applied to explore the impact of residential greenspace on different time courses of disease transitions. RESULTS: With 422,649 participants and a median follow-up period of 12.5 years, 8568 (2.0 %), 5648 (1.3 %), and 621 (0.1 %) individuals developed incident stroke, dementia, and comorbidity of both conditions, respectively. An increase in residential greenspace by one interquartile range was associated with reduced risks of transitions from baseline to stroke, dementia, and death, as well as from stroke to comorbidity. The corresponding hazard ratios (HRs) were 0.967 (95 % CI: 0.936, 0.998), 0.928 (0.892, 0.965), 0.925 (0.907, 0.942), and 0.799 (0.685, 0.933), respectively. Furthermore, the protective effect of residential greenspace on the transition from stroke or dementia to comorbidity was particularly pronounced within the first year and over 5 years after stroke and during the 2 to 3 years after dementia onset, with HRs of 0.692 (0.509, 0.941), 0.705 (0.542, 0.918), and 0.567 (0.339, 0.949), respectively. CONCLUSION: This study observed a protective role of residential greenspace in the trajectory of major neurological disorders and contributed to identifying critical progression windows. These findings underscore the significance of environment-health interactions in the prevention of neurological disorders.

Breastfeeding practices in Northeast China in 2008 and 2018: cross-sectional surveys to explore determinants over a decade.

BACKGROUND: This study was conducted to investigate the prevalence and determinants of breastfeeding in 2008 and 2018, respectively, in Northeast China, where health service efficiency is at the lowest national level and regional data on breastfeeding are lacking. The influence of early initiation of breastfeeding on later feeding practices was specifically explored. METHODS: Data from the China National Health Service Survey in Jilin Province in 2008 (n = 490) and 2018 (n = 491) were analysed. Multistage stratified random cluster sampling procedures were used to recruit the participants. Data collection was conducted in the selected villages and communities in Jilin. Early initiation of breastfeeding was defined as the proportion of children born in the last 24 months who were put to the breast within one hour after birth in both the 2008 and 2018 surveys. Exclusive breastfeeding was defined as the proportion of infants 0-5 months of age who were fed exclusively with breast milk in the 2008 survey; while defined as the proportion of infants 6-60 months of age who had been fed exclusively with breast milk within the first six months of life in the 2018 survey. RESULTS: The prevalence of early initiation of breastfeeding (27.6% in 2008 and 26.1% in 2018) and exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months (< 50%) were low in two surveys. Logistic regression revealed that exclusively breastfeeding at six months was positively associated with early initiation of breastfeeding (OR 2.65; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.65, 4.26) and negatively associated with caesarean section (OR 0.65; 95% CI 0.43, 0.98) in 2018. Continued breastfeeding at one year and timely introduction of complementary foods were associated with maternal residence and place of delivery, respectively, in 2018. Early initiation of breastfeeding was associated with mode and place of delivery in 2018 but residence in 2008. CONCLUSION: Breastfeeding practices in Northeast China are far from optimal. The negative effect of caesarean section and positive effect of early initiation of breastfeeding on exclusive breastfeeding suggest that an institution-based approach should not be substituted by the community-based one in the formulation of breastfeeding strategies in China.

The heterogeneous impacts of government on health system efficiency in China's new health reform, 2010-2019.

BACKGROUND: Contextualizing in China's recent health reform, we empirically explore the heterogeneous effects of two distinct government roles, accommodating private hospitals vs investing in public hospitals, on health system efficiency. METHODS: We use panel data covering 31 provinces during 2010-2019 to assess health system efficiency. We incorporate health service volumes and population health outcomes to ascertain health system outputs, employing the non-radial directional distance function to estimate efficiency. We employ Bayesian Tobit quantile regression to explore the heterogeneous effects of the share of private hospitals and government subsidy to public providers on efficiency. RESULTS: China's health system inefficiency scores range from 0 to 0.45. The association between the share of private hospitals and inefficiency score are only significant in higher-inefficiency quantiles (coefficients -0.0258, -0.0315 and -0.0327 for quantiles 0.7, 0.8 and 0.9), meaning a heterogeneously positive impact for low-efficiency provinces. The association between government subsidy and inefficiency score are positive for all quantiles (from 0.0339 to 0.0567), meaning persistent negative impacts on efficiency. CONCLUSIONS: The heterogeneous impacts of the share of private hospitals suggest that the government should accommodate more private hospitals in provinces with low efficiency. The persistent negative impacts of government subsidy suggest that the government investment seems not be subjected to economic objectives.

China's facility-based birth strategy and neonatal mortality: a population-based epidemiological study.

BACKGROUND: China's success in improving the quality of and access to obstetric care in hospitals offers an opportunity to examine the effect of a large-scale facility-based strategy on neonatal mortality. We aimed to establish this effect by assessing how the institutional strategy of intrapartum care has affected neonatal mortality and its regional inequalities. METHODS: We did a population-based epidemiological study of China's National Maternal and Child Mortality Surveillance System from 1996 to 2008. We used data from 116 surveillance sites in China (37 urban districts and 79 rural counties) to examine neonatal mortality by cause, socioeconomic region, and place of birth, with Poisson regression to calculate relative risks. Rural counties were categorised into types 1-4, with type 4 being the least developed. We report attributable risks and preventable fractions for hospital births versus home births. FINDINGS: Neonatal mortality decreased by 62% between 1996 and 2008. The rate of neonatal mortality was much lower for hospital births than for home births in all regions, with relative risks (RR) ranging from 0·30 (95% CI 0·22-0·40) in type 2 rural counties, to 0·52 (0·33-0·83) in type 4 counties (p<0·0001). The proportion of neonatal deaths prevented by hospital birth ranged from 70% (95% CI 59·7-77·8) to 48% (16·9-67·3). Babies born in urban hospitals had a low rate of neonatal mortality (5·7 per 1000 livebirths); but those born in hospitals in type 4 rural counties were almost four times more likely to die than were children born in urban hospitals (RR 3·80, 2·53-5·72). INTERPRETATION: Other countries can learn from China's substantial progress in reducing neonatal mortality. The major effect of China's facility-based strategy on neonatal mortality is much greater than that reported for community-based interventions. Our findings will provide a great impetus for countries to increase demand for and quality of facility-based intrapartum care. FUNDING: China Medical Board, UNICEF China.

Factors influencing rising caesarean section rates in China between 1988 and 2008.

OBJECTIVE: To identify factors driving the rapid increase in caesarean section in China between 1988 and 2008. METHODS: Data from four national cross-sectional surveys (1993, 1998, 2003 and 2008) and modified Poisson regression were used to determine whether changes in household income, access to health insurance or women's education accounted for the rise in caesarean sections in urban and rural areas. FINDINGS: In 2008, 64.1% of urban women and 11.3% of women in the poorest rural region reported giving birth by caesarean section. A fast rise was occurring in all socioeconomic groups. Between 1993 and 2008, the risk of caesarean section had increased more than threefold in urban areas (relative risk, RR: 3.63; 95% confidence interval, CI: 2.61-5.04) and more than 15-fold in rural areas (RR: 15.46; 95% CI: 10.46-22.86). After adjustment for improvements in income, education and access to health insurance over the study period, the RR dropped minimally in urban areas (RR: 3.07; 95% CI: 2.32-4.07), which suggests that these factors do not explain the rise; in rural areas, the adjusted RR dropped to 7.18 (95% CI: 4.82-10.69), which shows that socioeconomic change is only partly responsible for the rise. Socioeconomic region of residence was a more important driver of the caesarean section rate than individual socioeconomic status. CONCLUSION: The large variation in caesarean section rate by socioeconomic region--independent of individual income, health insurance or education--suggests that structural factors related to service supply have influenced the increasing rate more than a woman's ability to pay.