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Socioeconomic inequalities and determinants of maternal health services in Shaanxi Province, Western China.

ABSTRACT: Prenatal health care interventions are effective ways to improve maternal and neonatal health. There have been few large investigations conducted on the inequalities in maternal health services utilization in Shaanxi Province of west China since the health care reform in 2009. This study examined the inequalities and determinants of maternal health services utilization in Shaanxi Province. A household survey was conducted from August to November in 2013. By using a multistage sampling method, local women aged 15-49 who had given birth in the preceding three years were recruited. Information including social-demographic characteristics and maternal health services utilization was collected through a face-to-face interview. A concentration index approach was used to measure inequalities in maternal health services utilization. A logistic regression model was employed to investigate the determinants of maternal health services utilization. There were 8,488 women from urban areas and 18,724 women from rural areas enrolled in this study. The concentration index for all the indicators of maternal health services utilization showed significance in these two areas. In urban areas, the concentration index of having 5 or more prenatal visits, receiving the first prenatal visit within 12 weeks, delivering at secondary- or higher-level health facilities and delivering by C-section were 0.0356, 0.0166, 0.0177 and 0.0591, respectively, while in rural areas, the corresponding figures were 0.0385, 0.0183, 0.0334 and 0.0566, respectively. The determinants related to maternal health services utilization were women's age at delivery, educational level, employment status, parity, health problems during pregnancy and household income. Inequalities in maternal health services utilization still exist in Shaanxi Province. Providing maternal health services for younger, less educated, unemployed, high parity and poorer women, especially in rural areas, is expected to reduce the inequalities in maternal health services utilization.

SUBMITTER: Zhang R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6124721 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Socioeconomic inequalities and determinants of maternal health services in Shaanxi Province, Western China.

Zhang Ruo R Li Shanshan S Li Chao C Zhao Doudou D Guo Leqian L Qu Pengfei P Liu Danmeng D Dang Shaonong S Yan Hong H

PloS one 20180905 9

Prenatal health care interventions are effective ways to improve maternal and neonatal health. There have been few large investigations conducted on the inequalities in maternal health services utilization in Shaanxi Province of west China since the health care reform in 2009. This study examined the inequalities and determinants of maternal health services utilization in Shaanxi Province. A household survey was conducted from August to November in 2013. By using a multistage sampling method, lo ...[more]

PMID: 30183720

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Project description:BackgroundThe main objective was to investigate the burden of birth defects among alive infants and explore the impact of maternal lifestyle during pregnancy on the burden of birth defects in Northwest China.MethodsA stratified multi-stage sampling method was used to study infants born during 2010-2013 (and their mothers) in Shaanxi province of Northwest China. Socio-demographic information was collected using a structured questionnaire, and medical records from the local hospitals were used to determine the final diagnosis of birth defects. Poisson regression analysis was performed to assess the association between maternal lifestyles during pregnancy and the burden of birth defects, while adjusting for potential confounders.ResultsWe sampled 29098 infants, of whom 629 (i.e. 216.17 per 10000) were observed to have congenital defects. Cardiovascular system defects (77.32 per 10000) were found to be the most common. Mothers who had ever consumed alcohol during pregnancy were found to have infants with a higher prevalence of some categories of birth defects, including nervous system (Prevalence Rate Ratio, PRR:14.67, 95% CI: 1.94, 110.92), cardiovascular system (PRR:3.22, 95% CI: 1.02, 10.16) and oral clefts (PRR:9.02, 95% CI: 2.08, 39.10) in contrast to infants of mothers without any alcohol consumption. Maternal passive smoking during pregnancy lead to the increased burden of malformations of eye, ear, face and neck (PRR:1.95, 95% CI: 1.15, 3.33), cardiovascular system (PRR:1.70, 95% CI: 1.25, 2.31) and respiratory system (PRR:9.94, 95% CI: 2.37, 41.76) in their newborns. Further, tea or coffee consumption during pregnancy was positively correlated with the burden of specific birth defects, such as cardiovascular system (PRR: 2.44, 95% CI: 1.33, 4.46) and genital organs (PRR:14.72, 95% CI: 1.87, 116.11) among infants.ConclusionsThe prevalence of birth defects was high in Shaanxi province of Northwest China. The unhealthy lifestyles of mothers during pregnancy may increase the prevalence of congenital malformations. These findings in future may have some important implications for prevention of birth defects in Northwest China.

Project description:BackgroundMedical Financial Assistance (MFA) provides health insurance and financial support for millions of low income and disabled Chinese people, yet there has been little systematic analysis focused on this vulnerable population. This study aims to advance our understanding of MFA recipients' access to health care and whether their inpatient care use varies by remoteness.MethodsData were collected from the Surveillance System of Civil Affairs of Shaanxi province in 2016. To better proxy remoteness (geographic access), drive time from the respondent's village to the nearest county-level or city-level hospital was obtained by a web crawler. Multilevel models were used to explore the impacts of remoteness on inpatient services utilization by MFA recipients. Furthermore, the potential moderating role of hospital grade (i.e. the grade of medical institution where recipient's latest inpatient care services were taken in the previous year) on the relationship between geographic access and inpatient care use was explored.ResultsThe analytical sample consisted of 9516 inpatient claims within 73 counties of Shaanxi province in 2016. We find that drive time to the nearest hospital and hospital grade are salient predictors of inpatient care use and there is a significant moderation effect of hospital grade. Compared to those with shortest drive time to the nearest hospital, longer drive time is associated with a longer inpatient stay but fewer admissions and lower annual total and out-of-pocket (OOP) inpatient costs. In addition, these associations are lower when recipients are admitted to a tertiary hospital, for annual total and OOP inpatient expenditures, but higher for length of the most recent inpatient stay no matter what medical treatments are taken in secondary or tertiary hospitals for the most remote recipients.ConclusionOur results suggest that remoteness has a significant and negative association with the frequency of inpatient care use. These findings advance our understanding of inpatient care use of the extremely poor and provide meaningful insights for further MFA program development as well as pro-poor health strategies.

Project description:IntroductionThe irrational use of antibiotics is a major driver of antimicrobial resistance. This study aimed to explore how antibiotics were used in secondary and tertiary hospitals in Shaanxi Province, western China from 2013 to 2015.MethodA retrospective study was conducted with a sample of 16 hospitals in Shaanxi Province (2 tertiary and 14 secondary hospitals; 8 public and 8 private hospitals) using a stratified random sampling method. All of the macro data from these hospitals from 2013 to 2015 were analyzed. All collected data were double-entered and analyzed using Excel 2007.ResultsThe percentage of injectable antibiotic prescriptions was 26.6% of all of the antibiotic prescriptions in the secondary hospitals and 14.2% in the tertiary hospitals. Injectable antibiotic prescriptions in private tertiary hospitals (enter %) were more than two times that of public tertiary hospitals (enter %). In both tertiary and secondary hospitals, the percentage of antibiotic prescriptions for outpatients, emergency patients and inpatients were within the scope of the national standards, while the intensity of antibiotic use was higher than the national standard of 40 DDD/100 bed-days. The prophylactic antibiotic use rate in clean surgery was 40.4% in tertiary hospitals and 60.7% in secondary hospitals, which were both higher than the national standard of 30%. The preventive use rate of antibiotics in private tertiary hospitals (55.00%) was more than two times that of public tertiary hospitals (25.90%), and the rate was also higher in private secondary hospitals (61.50%) than in public secondary hospitals (59.70%).ConclusionsSubstantial antibiotic abuse occurred in the sample Chinese hospitals, especially in secondary hospitals. The government should continue to strengthen the administration of antimicrobial use in hospitals. At the same time, medical professional training and interventions for physicians should be conducted to fundamentally reduce the irrational use of antibiotics.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Empirical evidence suggests that the uptake of maternal and child health (MCH) services is still low in poor rural areas of China. There is concern that this low uptake may detrimentally affect child health outcomes. Previous studies have not yet identified the exact nature of the impact that a conditional cash transfer (CCT) has on the uptake of MCH services and, ultimately, on child health outcomes. The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between CCT, uptake of MCH services, and health outcomes among children in poor rural areas of western China. METHODS:We designated two different sets of villages and households that were used as comparisons against which outcomes of the treated households could be assessed. In 2014, we conducted a large-scale survey of 1522 households in 75 villages (including 25 treatment and 50 comparison) from nine nationally designated poverty counties in two provinces of China. In each village, 21 households were selected based on their eligibility status for the CCT program. Difference-in-difference analyses were used to assess the impact of CCT on outcomes in terms of both intention-to-treat (ITT) and average-treatment-effects-on-the-treated (ATT). RESULTS:Overall, the uptake of MCH services in the sample households were low, especially in terms of postpartum care visits, early breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding, and physical examination of the baby. The uptake of the seven types of MCH services in the CCT treatment villages were significantly higher than that in the comparison villages. The results from both the ITT and ATT analyses showed that the CCT program had a positive, although small, impact on the uptake of MCH services and the knowledge of mothers of MCH health issues. Nonetheless, the CCT program had no noticeable effect on child health outcomes. CONCLUSIONS:The CCT program generated modest improvements in the uptake of MCH services and mothers' knowledge of MCH services in poor rural areas of Western China. These improvements, however, did not translate into substantial improvements in child health outcomes for two potential reasons: poor CCT implementation and the low quality of rural health facilities.

Project description:BACKGROUND:The use of maternal health services can markedly promote the maternal health and safety, but there has been a low utilization rate in the ethnic rural areas of western China. Furthermore, the correlated factors have not been well studied. This study aims to assess factors related to the use of maternal health services among women in these areas. METHODS:A cross-sectional study of 68 villages in China's western Sichuan province was conducted in September 2014. All qualifying women from each sample village were involved. A structured questionnaire was administrated in households through face-to-face interviews by trained enumerators to obtain information of use of maternal health services and related factors. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to evaluate the direct and indirect relationships between use of maternal health services and correlated factors. RESULTS:A total of 760 women from 68 villages were enrolled. The proportion of antenatal care (ANC), hospital delivery and postpartum visits were 68.94, 48.29 and 28.42% respectively. The SEM analysis demonstrated that social economic status (SES) (?=?-?0.75, ?<?0.01), ANC (?=0.13, ?<?0.01), and time from home to the nearest hospital (?=?-?0.09, ?<?0.05), were positively correlated to hospital delivery and postpartum care visits, while maternal care knowledge and perceived quality of hospital care did not have direct correlation. For ANC, SES (?=?-?0.36, ?<?0.01), time from home to the nearest hospital (?=?-?0.13, ?<?0.05), knowledge on maternal care (?=0.12, ?<?0.01) and perceived quality of hospital care (?=0.10, ?<?0.01) were all directly correlated factors. Treating ANC as an intermediate variable showed the indirect relationship that perceived quality of hospital care (?=0.01, ?<?0.01) and maternal care knowledge (?=0.02, ?<?0.01) had with hospital delivery and postpartum care rates. CONCLUSIONS:Use of maternal health services is low among women in ethnic rural areas. ANC has important direct and intermediate effects on subsequent use of hospital delivery and postpartum care. Improving ANC behavior should be a priority of maternal health care reforms. Given the long travel times for these women, reforms must also prioritize breaking down practical barriers that prevent this population from accessing care.

Project description:BackgroundWhile community care services have been developing rapidly as a new way to meet the growing demands of elderly individuals in China, their health benefits are virtually unknown. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine the Chinese elderly individuals' utilisation of community care services and its association with the mental health with comparing rural-urban and gender differences.MethodsFor this 2019 cross-sectional study, 687 elderly people from 7 counties (districts) of China's Shaanxi province were enrolled. Respondents' mental health level was assessed using a self-reported mental health measure. Four categories of community care services utilisation were examined: daily care services, medical care services, social and recreational services and spiritual comfort services. The binary logistic regression model was used in examining the association between community care services utilisation and mental health.ResultsOur results showed that there was a noted difference in mental health level between the male and female groups. Utilisation of medical care services and social and recreational services was significantly higher in the rural group than that in the urban group. Regression analysis showed that utilisation of daily care services (β = 0.809, p = 0.008) and social and recreational service (β = 0.526, p = 0.035) was significantly and positively associated with elderly individuals' mental health level. Specifically, daily care services utilisation predicted a better mental health of the rural elderly (β = 1.051, p = 0.036) and the male elderly (β = 1.133, p = 0.053), while social and recreational services utilisation predicted a better mental health of the urban elderly (β = 0.927, p = 0.008) and the female elderly (β = 0.864, p = 0.007).ConclusionsOur findings indicated varied levels of community care services utilisation and mental health are common among the elderly people in China. Community care services utilisation has a positive, albeit selective, association with elderly individuals' mental health. Further policies should strengthen the equitable development of high-quality community care services in urban and rural areas to improve the mental health of elderly individuals, and focus more on gender differences in terms of community care services needs.

Dataset Information

Socioeconomic inequalities and determinants of maternal health services in Shaanxi Province, Western China.

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Socioeconomic inequalities and determinants of maternal health services in Shaanxi Province, Western China.

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