IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v12y2015i9p11579-11593d55799.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What Contributes to the Activeness of Ethnic Minority Patients with Chronic Illnesses Seeking Allied Health Services? A Cross-Sectional Study in Rural Western China

Author

Listed:
  • Shangfeng Tang

    (School of Medicine and Health Management, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China)

  • Dong Dong

    (David C. Lam Institute for East-West Studies, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China)

  • Lu Ji

    (Cancer Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangdong 510060, China)

  • Hang Fu

    (School of Medicine and Health Management, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China)

  • Zhanchun Feng

    (School of Medicine and Health Management, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China)

  • Ghose Bishwajit

    (School of Medicine and Health Management, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China)

  • Zhifei He

    (School of Medicine and Health Management, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China)

  • Hui Ming

    (School of Medicine and Health Management, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China)

  • Qian Fu

    (School of Medicine and Health Management, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China)

  • Yue Xian

    (School of Medicine and Health Management, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China)

Abstract

Actively seeking health services lies at the core of effective models of chronic disease self-management and contributes to promoting the utilization of allied health services (AHS). However, the use of AHS by ethnic minority Chinese, especially the elderly living in rural areas, has not received much attention. This study, therefore, aims to explore the association between personal characteristics and the activeness of ethnic minority patients with chronic diseases in rural areas of western China seeking AHS. A cross-sectional study was conducted to collect data on the socio-demographic and economic characteristics, health knowledge level and health communication channels of the sampled patients. A logistic regression model was used to examine the association of these predictors with the activeness of the surveyed patients in seeking AHS. A total of 1078 ethnic minorities over 45 years old who had chronic conditions were randomly selected from three western provinces in China and were interviewed in 2014. It is found that the New Cooperative Medical Scheme (NCMS) is the most salient predictor affecting the activeness of Chinese ethnic minorities in seeking AHS. The probability is 8.51 times greater for those insured with NCMS to actively seek AHS than those without (95% Confidence Interval (CI) 4.76–15.21; p < 0.001). Moreover, participants between 60 and 70 years old and those who have five to six household members are more likely to seek AHS compared with other social groups (Odds Ratio (OR) = 1.64, 95% CI 1.28–2.97, p = 0.007; OR = 1.95, 95% CI 1.15–2.36, p = 0.002). However, the activeness of patients seeking AHS is lower for those who have better household economic conditions. Besides socio-demographic predictors, the Chinese ethnic minorities’ activeness in seeking AHS is clearly associated with the communication channels used for receiving health information, which include direct communication with doctors (OR = 5.18, 95% CI 3.58–7.50, p < 0.001) and dissemination of elementary public health knowledge posted on bulletin boards (OR = 2.30, 95% CI 1.61–3.27, p < 0.001) and traditional mass media (OR = 1.74, 95% CI 1.22–2.48, p = 0.002). First, the government should further improve the coverage of NCMS to households suffering from chronic diseases and satisfy the requirements of social groups at different income levels and various ages in their health care to improve their activeness in AHS utilization. Second, doctors’ advice, bulletin boards and traditional media are common health communication channels for those seeking AHS and thus should be continuously employed in rural western China. Third, specified healthcare services should be designed to meet the needs of different patient segmentations.

Suggested Citation

  • Shangfeng Tang & Dong Dong & Lu Ji & Hang Fu & Zhanchun Feng & Ghose Bishwajit & Zhifei He & Hui Ming & Qian Fu & Yue Xian, 2015. "What Contributes to the Activeness of Ethnic Minority Patients with Chronic Illnesses Seeking Allied Health Services? A Cross-Sectional Study in Rural Western China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-15, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:12:y:2015:i:9:p:11579-11593:d:55799
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/12/9/11579/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/12/9/11579/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shanshan Jing & Aitian Yin & Lizheng Shi & Jinan Liu, 2013. "Whether New Cooperative Medical Schemes Reduce the Economic Burden of Chronic Disease in Rural China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(1), pages 1-6, January.
    2. Musa, D. & Schulz, R. & Harris, R. & Silverman, M. & Thomas, S.B., 2009. "Trust in the health care system and the use of preventive health services by older black and white adults," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 99(7), pages 1293-1299.
    3. Green, Carla A & Pope, Clyde R, 1999. "Gender, psychosocial factors and the use of medical services: a longitudinal analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 48(10), pages 1363-1372, May.
    4. Xi Sun & Zhanchun Feng & Ping Zhang & Xingliang Shen & Li Wei & Miaomiao Tian, 2014. "Association between Time of Pay-for-Performance for Patients and Community Health Services Use by Chronic Patients," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(2), pages 1-6, February.
    5. Colin D Mathers & Dejan Loncar, 2006. "Projections of Global Mortality and Burden of Disease from 2002 to 2030," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 3(11), pages 1-20, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yinghao Lv & Qiang Fu & Xiao Shen & Erping Jia & Xianglin Li & Yingying Peng & Jinghong Yan & Mingzhu Jiang & Juyang Xiong, 2020. "Treatment Preferences of Residents Assumed to Have Severe Chronic Diseases in China: A Discrete Choice Experiment," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-10, November.
    2. Hang Fu & Da Feng & Shangfeng Tang & Zhifei He & Yuanxi Xiang & Tailai Wu & Ruoxi Wang & Tian Shao & Chunyan Liu & Piaopiao Shao & Zhanchun Feng, 2017. "Prevalence of Tobacco Smoking and Determinants of Success in Quitting Smoking among Patients with Chronic Diseases: A Cross-Sectional Study in Rural Western China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-10, February.
    3. Chengxu Long & Ruoxi Wang & Da Feng & Lu Ji & Zhanchun Feng & Shangfeng Tang, 2020. "Social Support and Health Services Use in People Aged over 65 Years Migrating within China: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-14, June.
    4. Yinghua Xie & Dong Lang & Shuna Lin & Fangfei Chen & Xiaodong Sang & Peng Gu & Ruijun Wu & Zhifei Li & Xuan Zhu & Lu Ji, 2021. "Mapping Maternal Health in the New Media Environment: A Scientometric Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-16, December.
    5. Da Feng & Ray Serrano & Ting Ye & Shangfeng Tang & Lei Duan & Yuan Xu & Jian Yang & Yuan Liang & Shanquan Chen & Zhanchun Feng & Liang Zhang, 2016. "What Contributes to the Regularity of Patients with Hypertension or Diabetes Seeking Health Services? A Pilot Follow-Up, Observational Study in Two Sites in Hubei Province, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-14, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jia Lu & Shabana Jamani & Joseph Benjamen & Eric Agbata & Olivia Magwood & Kevin Pottie, 2020. "Global Mental Health and Services for Migrants in Primary Care Settings in High-Income Countries: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-28, November.
    2. Matthijs van den Berg & Filip Smit & Theo Vos & Pieter H M van Baal, 2011. "Cost-Effectiveness of Opportunistic Screening and Minimal Contact Psychotherapy to Prevent Depression in Primary Care Patients," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(8), pages 1-7, August.
    3. Ide, Hiroo & Mollahaliloglu, Salih, 2009. "How firms set prices for medical materials: A multi-country study," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(1), pages 73-78, September.
    4. Eldon Spackman & Stewart Richmond & Mark Sculpher & Martin Bland & Stephen Brealey & Rhian Gabe & Ann Hopton & Ada Keding & Harriet Lansdown & Sara Perren & David Torgerson & Ian Watt & Hugh MacPherso, 2014. "Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Acupuncture, Counselling and Usual Care in Treating Patients with Depression: The Results of the ACUDep Trial," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(11), pages 1-12, November.
    5. Peele, Morgan & Wolf, Sharon, 2020. "Predictors of anxiety and depressive symptoms among teachers in Ghana: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 253(C).
    6. Carsten Hinrichsen & Vibeke Jenny Koushede & Katrine Rich Madsen & Line Nielsen & Nanna Gram Ahlmark & Ziggi Ivan Santini & Charlotte Meilstrup, 2020. "Implementing Mental Health Promotion Initiatives—Process Evaluation of the ABCs of Mental Health in Denmark," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-26, August.
    7. Gianni Tognoni & Alejandro Macchia, 2020. "Health as a Human Right: A Fake News in a Post-human World?," Development, Palgrave Macmillan;Society for International Deveopment, vol. 63(2), pages 270-276, December.
    8. Renske Kok & Mauricio Avendano & Teresa Bago d’Uva & Johan Mackenbach, 2012. "Can Reporting Heterogeneity Explain Differences in Depressive Symptoms Across Europe?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 105(2), pages 191-210, January.
    9. Emmanuel Peprah & Elisabet Caler & Anya Snyder & Fassil Ketema, 2020. "Deconstructing Syndemics: The Many Layers of Clustering Multi-Comorbidities in People Living with HIV," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-7, June.
    10. Qiumei Xu & Fangfen Yuan & Xuemei Shen & Hui Wen & Wei Li & Bei Cheng & Jing Wu, 2014. "Polymorphisms of C242T and A640G in CYBA Gene and the Risk of Coronary Artery Disease: A Meta-Analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(1), pages 1-8, January.
    11. Hoehun Ha & Wei Tu, 2018. "An Ecological Study on the Spatially Varying Relationship between County-Level Suicide Rates and Altitude in the United States," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-16, April.
    12. Ekaterina Aleksandrova & Venera Bagranova & Christopher J Gerry, 2021. "The effect of health shocks on labour market outcomes in Russia [Ageing and unused capacity in Europe: is there an early retirement trap?]," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 45(6), pages 1319-1336.
    13. Eduardo Martínez-Martínez & María Luisa Zaragoza & Elmer Solano & Brenda Figueroa & Patricia Zúñiga & Juan P Laclette, 2012. "Health Research Funding in Mexico: The Need for a Long-Term Agenda," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(12), pages 1-11, December.
    14. Zarish Noreen & Christopher A. Loffredo & Attya Bhatti & Jyothirmai J. Simhadri & Gail Nunlee-Bland & Thomas Nnanabu & Peter John & Jahangir S. Khan & Somiranjan Ghosh, 2020. "Transcriptional Profiling and Biological Pathway(s) Analysis of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in a Pakistani Population," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-20, August.
    15. Darius Erlangga & Marc Suhrcke & Shehzad Ali & Karen Bloor, 2019. "The impact of public health insurance on health care utilisation, financial protection and health status in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(8), pages 1-20, August.
    16. Joern Birkmann & Susan Cutter & Dale Rothman & Torsten Welle & Matthias Garschagen & Bas Ruijven & Brian O’Neill & Benjamin Preston & Stefan Kienberger & Omar Cardona & Tiodora Siagian & Deny Hidayati, 2015. "Scenarios for vulnerability: opportunities and constraints in the context of climate change and disaster risk," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 133(1), pages 53-68, November.
    17. Anuli Njoku & Marcelin Joseph & Rochelle Felix, 2021. "Changing the Narrative: Structural Barriers and Racial and Ethnic Inequities in COVID-19 Vaccination," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-14, September.
    18. Kimberley E Wever & Carlijn R Hooijmans & Niels P Riksen & Thomas B Sterenborg & Emily S Sena & Merel Ritskes-Hoitinga & Michiel C Warlé, 2015. "Determinants of the Efficacy of Cardiac Ischemic Preconditioning: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Animal Studies," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(11), pages 1-17, November.
    19. Junyan Teng & Yanping Wei & Fengming Su & Zhiping Guo & Jing-Quan Zhong, 2015. "Evaluating of Physiological Chemical Levels in Blood to Assess the Risk of Morbidity and Mortality of Ischemic Cardiovascular Disease," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-11, September.
    20. Maryam Bigdeli & Bart Jacobs & Chean Rithy Men & Kristine Nilsen & Wim Van Damme & Bruno Dujardin, 2016. "Access to Treatment for Diabetes and Hypertension in Rural Cambodia: Performance of Existing Social Health Protection Schemes," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(1), pages 1-18, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:12:y:2015:i:9:p:11579-11593:d:55799. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.