Objective To investigate the spectrum of diseases and the current situation of antibiotic use in rural hospitals and community health service centers in Chengdu, so as to provide evidence for selecting essential medicines and promoting rational use of antibiotics. Method We selected 7 township/community health institutions, from which we collected inpatient and outpatient information. Information about antibiotic use was also collected, including categories, cost, and dosage. A standard questionnaire was used to investigate physicians’ prescription behavior for principal diseases. Result Urban and rural areas had different spectrums of diseases. The major diseases in urban areas included diabetes mellitus, hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and respiratory tract infection; while those in rural areas were infectious diseases of the respiratory system, digestive system, and urinary system. The physicians’ prescription behavior was mainly based on their personal experience. Antibiotics accounted for 30-50% of the total medicine cost. The top four types of antibiotics with the highest cost were cephalosporins, penicillin, quinolones, and macrolides. Conclusion Based on the different spectrums of diseases, essential drug lists and standard treatment guidelines appropriate for rural health care should be developed to improve the rational use of drugs. Factors such as the average cost of daily dose and the course of treatment should be taken into consideration to reduce the overall cost of medicine. An antimicrobial resistance monitoring system and special training courses on rational use of antibiotics should be utilized in the rural health institutions.
Objective To investigate the the status of Health manpower resources of rural hospitals, Health service, health personnel ’s reflection for the hospital’ current issues in Pingshan Xibaipo town in Hebei province, so as to provide baseline data for the establishment of a rural hospital’s comprehensive model. Method We conducted the survey which using questionnaires to collect the information of the rural hospital staff’s self-evaluation of health services, the reflecting of the problems of the current hospitals ,the views of the future building, village health humen resources for health, etc. SPSS 17.0 sofewarewas used for data analysis. Result The following problems are existing in Xibaipo town hospitals. (1) The rural hospital infrastructure is poor: 14 beds, housing a total area of 832 square meters is far below the national average. (2) The quality of the health personnel in the rural hospital is low.The proportion of doctors and nurses (1׃0.75) is higher than the Ministry of Health’s standard (1׃1), less educated (only 2 person’s first degree is college), low-level professional titled (the proportion of health officer of no professional title is 42.86%), etc. (3) Health resources in village are scarce: the quality of rural doctors is low (90.91% are non-formal school graduation), village clinics is lack of facilities (16 villages have only a total of 10 village clinics, 5 beds). Conclusion The infrastructure of the rural hospital was poor,while the situation of the personnel allocation in the rural hospital was irrational ,and the integrated management of the hospital in town and village is not good . The health personnel proposed recommendation about construction of health personnel, departments, information technology , etc .The rural hospital should introduce equipment and personnel, improve health care services and strengthen the integrated management of the hospital in town and village .
Objective To investigate the residents’ needs, demand and utilizations of health service in Pingshan Xibaipo town in Hebei province, so as to provide baseline data for the establishment of a rural hospital’s comprehensive model. Method We conducted the survey which using questionnaires to collect the information of all residents in 16 villages of Xibaipo town. The contents of the survey was residents’ spectrum of disease, health service needs, demand and utilization, the cost and Evaluation of medical services, etc. SPSS 17.0 software was used for descriptive analysis. Result The local health services situation was ‘high need, low-use’. The participation rate of the new rural cooperative medical care (NCMS) was 98.06%. Most residents choose rural hospital as the hospital to visits and hospitalization. The evaluation of the equipment and the reasonableness of the charges was lowest. There was a great demand for periodic physical examination and health education. Conclusion The proportion of Health service needs Converse to health services use is low. The health services of major diseases such as hypertension, cerebrovascular diseases need to focus on strengthening. The government should increase financial investment and strengthen basic health resources, strive to do a good work of the residents’ health education and physical examination.
Objective To provide references for the rational allocation of health personnel in rural hospitals through understanding the status of health human resources of rural hospitals in remote and poor areas of Sichuan Province. Methodes This study used cluster sampling method, combined with questionnaire survey and qualitative interviews. A total of 711 health workers of 29 rural hospitals in Pengzhou and Baoxing of Sichuan Province were interviewed. SPSS16.0 was used for descriptive analysis.Results The average age of rural hospitals health personnel in remote and poor areas of Sichuan Province was 30 years old. Post-secondary education accounted for 58.12%, and Bachelor degree or above accounted for 7.2%. The number of medium and senior professional titles account for 8.4 %. The ratio of doctors to nurses was 1:0.55. In the survey of health workers, those doctors with practice (assistant) license accounted for 38.5%, and those without any qualification occupied 27.1 %. Conclusions The professional titles of medical personnel of rural hospitals in remote and poor areas in Sichuan province are generally low. The distribution of professional categories is irrational. The staff in charge of prevention and care are inadequate. There exist a large number of unqualified medical workers. Therefore, the government should increase the investment in rural health and take measures to stabilize the team structure, introduce the talented, and strengthen the training for health personnel of rural hospitals to improve their overall quality.
Objective To provide evidence for the establishment of an essential medicines list, we investigated the institutional medicine supply in rural hospitals and community health service centers in Chengdu. Methods The trained investigators collected medicine sales records and information about the management of institutional pharmacies. Through in-depth interviews with the pharmaceutical personnel, we inquired into the drug supervision and supply networks in rural areas. Then we performed secondary research based on a comparative analysis of drug classification, administration and pharmacies in developed countries. Results Seven township hospitals/community health service centers had pharmacies, facilities, storage, and a clean environment. Three of them used electrical databases to manage medicine sales records. Five township hospitals and 5 village medical rooms purchased medicines from the drug supervision and supply networks every week. In this way, they ensured the quality and accessibility of drugs in rural areas. In the urban community health service centers, medicines were supplied based on the traditional commercial distribution system. Conclusion Rational allocation of health resources to set up institutional pharmacies and village medicine rooms is important. The supervision of village medical rooms must be stricter. We should expand the use of electrical databases and integrate the supervision and supply networks with the supply system of the essential medicines.
Objective To provide baseline data for the Special Healthcare Program of Comprehensive Reform for Coordinated and Balanced Urban-rural Development in Chengdu. Methods We selected 7 township/community health institutions and 6 village health posts /street clinics using stratified sampling to take account of the levels of economic development and the distance from the centre of Chengdu We then performed on-site surveys and secondary research. Data were analyzed by using Epidata or Excel. Results The utilization of health institutions was generally good. The number of visits and number of inpatients in medical institutions increased steadily. The utilization rate of hospital beds and doctors’ workload were higher than the national average. The average medical expense per outpatient /inpatient was far lower than the national level. The overall condition of the health institutions that close to the centre of Chengdu was better. Conclusion We should persist in taking advantage of the rural hospitals’ construction to improve village health posts /street clinics and strengthen the national and governmental compensating mechanism for township /community health organizations (village health posts /street clinics), so as to make the basic condition of current township/ community health organizations (village health posts /street clinics) better.
Objective The Chengdu initiative essential medicine policy is part of the Special Healthcare Program of Comprehensive Reform for Coordinated and Balanced Urban-rural Development. We aimed to investigate the current situation of medicine use in rural hospitals and community health service centers, so as to provide evidence for policy-makers to select essential medicines and facilitate rational use of medicines. Method We selected 7 township/community health institutions from which to collect medicine use information, including medicine category, number of medicine categories, cost and consumption. Descriptive analysis and the ABC classification method were applied for statistical analysis. Results The number of medicine categories used in the community health institutions was four times greater than that in the township health institutions. Traditional Chinese medicine preparations accounted for 40% of the total medicine cost. Polypharmacy, overuse of injections, and improper use of antibiotics were major manifestations of the irrational use of medicines. Conclusion The selection and use of essential medicines should be base on high quality evidence as well disease burden, the economic situation and specific demands in different areas. Drug and therapeutics committees should be set up to perform dynamic monitoring, education, evaluation and continual improvement of an essential medicines list.