ObjectiveTo comprehensively collect quality assessment tools of systematic review/meta-analysis (SR/MA) of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), and compare the differences of numbers and contents of items, in order to provide references for optimizing and using these quality assessment tools. MethodsWe searched PubMed and EMbase databases up to December 31th, 2013 for quality assessment tools of SR/MA of RCTs. EndNote X3 software was used for screening literature and Excel 2010 software was used for data extraction. A descriptive analysis was performed. ResultsA total of 61 studies including 32 quality assessment tools were included. Among them, 30 tools were for methodological quality and 2 tools for reporting quality. These tools were developed by different medical universities or colleges, research institutes, national health institutes, and some famous epidemiologists and methodologists from 1984 to 2007. Among the 32 tools, 4 tools were scales, while 28 were checklists. The numbers of items of these tools ranged from 5 to 101, among them, 9 tools had more than 20 items. ConclusionThere are many quality assessment tools for SR/MA, but none of them is generally acknowledged. The quality, contents of items, and applicability of these tools are different, and some of them are too long to use. In practice and decision-making, most of the tools have the problems of low relevance and applicability. How to regularly use these tools to guide the research, practice and decision-making of SR/MA is still needed to be further researched.
ObjectiveTo investigate the distribution of human resources in primary healthcare system of Xinjin county in Chengdu in 2010, so as to provide the evidence for appropriate allocation of health manpower. MethodsWe collected the data of human resources in the regional health information and management platform, and the list of health workers and their registration information. Microsoft Excel 2003 and SPSS 13.0 software were used to analyze data. Resultsa) A total of 1 551 health workers were in Xinjin primary healthcare system in 2010, including 1 124 in tenure position (accounting for 72.5%) and 427 in contract (accounting for 27.5%). b) In county-level hospital (CLH) or community healthcare centre (CHC) or township hospital (TH), the proportion of health professionals were 83.2%, 79.0% and 80.0% respectively; and 28.8%, 27.2% and 28.7% for registered & assistant doctors; 39.3%, 22.7% and 16.2% for registered nurses; 6.7%, 8.3% and 4.7% for technicians; and 5.9%, 6.8% and 6.9% for pharmacists, respectively. c) Health personnel per 1 000 population in CLH, CHC, and TH were 3.10, 1.98, and 1.92, respectively; health professionals per 1 000 population were 2.58, 1.58, and 1.54, respectively; registered & assistant doctors per 1 000 population were 0.89, 0.54, 0.55, respectively; and registered nurses were 1.22, 0.45, 0.31, respectively. The nurse-to-doctor ratios were 1.36, 0.83, and 0.56 nurses per doctor in CLH, CHC, and TH, respectively. The bed-to-nurse ratios were 0.59, 0.38, and 0.19 nurses per bed respectively. d) Most health professionals were junior professionals (about 60%), in college-level education (about 50%), between 25 to 44 years old (20%-70%), work experience between 5 to 19 years (40%-63%). e) Temporary employees in TH accounted for 46.4%, among which 86.6% younger than 35 years old, 23.4% in internship, and 64.1% at clinical position. Conclusiona) The shortage of health personnel is very obvious in Xinjin county with inappropriate proportions of health professionals; b) The stability of health personnel is challenging due to the large proportion of temporary employees in THs; c) health professionals in Xinjin county features a younger population, and in lower professional positions; d)Therefore, the related policies should be adjusted and innovated to enhance the education and training, to maintain the stability of health personnel and to promote the healthy and sustainable development of primary healthcare services.
ObjectiveTo evaluate the current status of primary healthcare system reform in Xinjin county, in order to provide baseline data for improving the healthcare service system and population health in Chengdu. MethodsPrimary health care services and population health in Xinjin county were quantitatively described and compared. Resultsa) Eleven township hospitals (100%) and 89 village clinics (66.42%) were upgraded according to the national standards. The management of 60 village clinics were integrated with township hospitals. And 417 and 76 essential healthcare services were provided by township hospitals and village clinics, respectively. b) In 2010, the number of outpatients and inpatients in Xinjin county were increased by 24.2% and 46.3% respectively compared to those of 2009, while the costs per outpatient visit and inpatient discharge were reduced by 21.5% and 18.6% respectively. c) In 2010, health records of 98.2% of population in Xinjin county have been established; 96.3% of pregnant women were managed systematically; 98.8% of children immunization programs were implemented; 100% patients with severe mental disorders and about 78% with hypertension and diabetes were in follow-up and treatment; and 28.8% of total population got the free physical exams in 2010. d) The essential medicine accounted for 96.7% of total types of medicines and 97.8% of total expenditure of medicines in primarily healthcare institutions in Xinjin. The cost of medicine management was reduced from 8.5% to 4.2% while the medicine turnover rate was increased by 50%. e) Average life expectancy in Xinjin county was 77.97 years, infant mortality rate was 6.82‰ in 2010; and there was no maternal death in recent 8 years. f) The regional healthcare information system was established covering three-tier rural health care network spanning the county, township and village. Conclusiona) The primary healthcare system reform in Xinjin county improves the infrastructure of primary care system, the utilization of essential medical care, essential public health service, and essential medicines. b) Life expectancy, infant mortality rate and maternal mortality of Xinjin county are better than the average levels in Sichuan province and China. Xinjin county is a representative pilot county for healthcare service system reform in Chengdu city and a nice model to successfully promote healthcare system reform based on regional healthcare information system.
ObjectivesTo investigate the utilization of essential medicines and antibiotics in primary healthcare system of Xinjin county of Chengdu city from 2009 to 2011. MethodsThe data of utilization of all the medicines, essential medicines and antibiotics was collected from 17 hospitals of Xinjin primary healthcare system. Microsoft Excel 2003 was used to analyze the data. ResultsCompared with 2009, the total costs of medicines and essential medicines increased by 72.27% and 135.4% respectively in 2010. After the implementation of essential medicine policy in 2010, the proportion of essential medicines accounted for more than 90% in community healthcare centers (CHCs) and township hospitals (THs) and over 50% in county-level hospitals in 2011. In 2010, the average cost per prescription among outpatients increased by 3.51% in total, but deceased by 16.23% in CHCs/THs (RMB 15.09 yuan per prescription). In July of 2011, the policy to control the use of antibiotics was implemented in Xinjin county. The use of antibiotics decreased, but still accounted for over 30% in 9 out of 13 CHCs/THs. The use of bigeminy antibiotics and trigeminy antibiotics accounted for 0.42 to 5.56% and 0 to 0.44%, respectively. ConclusionsThe use of essential medicines increases in Xinjin county and met the national requirements. The average cost per prescription among outpatient decreases in THs and CHCs. After controlling the use of antibiotics, the proportion and cost of antibiotics is still very high, and irrational use of antibiotics probably still exists. The training and guide for evidence-based rational use of medicine should be enhanced in future.
ObjectiveTo investigate the essential healthcare system performance in Xinjin county of Chengdu city from 2009 to 2010, so as to provide baseline data for further study. MethodsThe general information of the essential healthcare, such as the numbers of out and in-patients, service and profits were collected and then analyzed using the software of Microsoft Excel 2003 and SPSS 13.0. Resultsa) The results showed that the numbers of out and in-patients were in the rank of the county, township and community hospital. The numbers of out and emergency patients has been decreased 31.0% and 25.3% in the community hospital from 2009 to 2010, while patients in the county and township hospital has been increased. The numbers of in-patients has been increased by year; b) hospital bed occupancy has been increased by year, and the hospital bed occupancy of county hospitals was 8% lower than national level in 2009, 33.5% higher in 2010, the hospital bed occupancy of township hospitals from 2009 to 2010 was higher than national level, the ones of community hospital was lower than national level; c) there is an annual decreasing tendency for average days for hospitalization in county and community hospital, which were higher than national level; d) it was lower than national average rate; e) the inpatient fee per time was lower than national average rate; f) in the components of the in-patients expense, drug expense, operation expense and diagnose expense were constituted more than 86% in all eight costs; and g) the receipts and expenditure of Xinjin hospital throughout the year increased by years, the income and expenses showed 39.3% and 37.7%. ConclusionThe hospital bed occupancy, average hospitalization days and the inpatient fee per time in Xinjin county of Chengdu city during 2009-2010, were higher than national level. The overall health performance of hospitals in Xinjin county was satisfied. However, there was significant difference between the best and the worst. In order to distribute health resources, both benefit and efficient should be emphasized.
ObjectiveTo investigate the drug utilization in primary healthcare system of Xinjin county of Chengdu in 2010. MethodsThe drug utilization information in regional health information platform of Xinjin county were collected. Microsoft Excel 2003 software was used to describe the types, forms and expenditure of medicines, particularly the use of antibiotics among outpatients and inpatients. ResultsThe drug utilization of 17 hospitals in Xinjin county in 2010 was summarized below:a) there were 1 507, 1 356 and 695 kinds of drugs dispended for outpatients, and 1 271, 1 023 and 317 for inpatients in county-level hospitals (CLH), township hospitals (TH) and community healthcare centre (CHC), respectively. Among which, oral biomedicine and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) accounted for about 45% of total types, and 46% to 73% of total drug expenditure among outpatients; while oral biomedicine and the injection accounted 37% to 61% of total types of medicines dispended to inpatients, particularly injection of biomedicine accounting for over 75% of total drug expenditure among inpatients. b) The expenditure of top 30 drugs in primary care hospitals accounted for 50% of total drug expenditure among outpatients and over 85% among inpatients. c) Among the top 20 drugs, there were 15 antibiotics, which accounted for 26.5% of total drug expenditure in Xinjin county. The top 10 antibiotics were mainly cephalosporin, accounting for 59.36% and 66.27% of total antibiotics expenditure among outpatients and inpatients respectively. Conclusiona) The main forms of medicines dispended to outpatients are oral biomedicine and TCM, while oral agents and injection of biomedicine are the majority of medicines used for inpatients. b) The top 30 drugs should be monitored for rational use of drugs considering the huge expenditure. And c) the types, proportion of use and expenses of antimicrobial drugs ranked the first in CLH, CHC and TH, which may imply irrational use of antibiotics.
ObjectiveTo comprehensively evaluate the essential public health service in Xinjin county of Chengdu from 2009 to April 2011, so as to provide evidence for improving primary healthcare system reform in Chengdu city. MethodsThe data was collected from the Xinjin county-wide health information system. The electronic health records, chronic disease management, childbirth management and mental health were quantitatively described and compared. Resultsa) In 2010, 88 772 residents had the physical examination and health assessment, among which, 14 497 (16%) were detected with some health problems. The average cost per positive detection was RMB 122.5 yuan. b) Up to April 2011, 98.2% of people in Xinjin county have their health records but the proportions were ranged from 68.08% to 109.02% in different primary healthcare providers. The details of the most health records were incomplete. c) 7 318 patients with hypertension and 2 187 diabetes mellitus were detected, and among them, 90.1% of patients with hypertension and 95.1% of patients with diabetes had their health records for chronic diseases management. d) The rate of stillbirth or neonatal mortality was lower than 4‰. There was no maternal death in the 8 years. But the cesarean section rate was about 61%. e) 97.3% of the patients with mental disorders were supervised in 2010, which was reduced by 2.7% compared to 2009. Conclusionsa) There is low proportion of all the residents in Xinjin having physical examination and health assessment and the rate of diseases detection is low as well. b) There is very wide coverage of health records for residents in Xinjin county, nearly universal coverage. c) The health records for the chronic disease patients were well-established, but the early detection rate of the chronic diseases is low. d) High proportion of the patients with mental disorders is supervised. e) The strategy that only county-level hospitals could provide obstetrical service instead of township hospitals is successful to reduce the neonatal mortality and maternal mortality. However, the cesarean section rate is high. f) It acts, to some extent, as a model to successfully improve the essential public health service and management based on the conuty-wide healthcare information system. However, the data quality, data mining and data utilization should be further improved
ObjectiveTo investigate the burden of disease in Xinjin county of Chengdu city from 2009 to 2010. so as to provide baseline data for the study on the healthcare service system. MethodsThe prevalence of diseases among outpatients and inpatients in Xinjin county was collected and then analyzed using Microsoft Excel 2003 and SPSS 13.0 software. Resultsa) The numbers of out-patient and in-patients with the top 20 diseases had been increased by 106.8% and 43.2%, respectively in 2010 than those in 2009. According to International Statistical Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10, the diagnosis of the diseases involved in 11 types of diseases among outpatients. For out-patients, the top 3 categories were diseases of respiratory, digestive systems and injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes, accounting for 85.06% and 82.69% of total diseases in 2009 and 2010, respectively. Among them, upper respiratory infections, acute bronchitis and superficial injury cumulatively accounted for 61.61% in 2009 and 59.53% in 2010. b) The diagnosis of the diseases involved in 12 types of diseases among in-patients. For in-patients, the top 4 categories were diseases of the respiratory system, pregnancy, disease during childbirth and puerperium, digestive and the circulatory systems. Among them, the diseases of the respiratory system accounted for 53.55% and 50.82% in 2009 and 2010, respectively. The top 4 diseases among in-patients were acute bronchitis, chronic bronchitis, COPD, and acute gastritis, accounting for 48.12% and 49.54% cumulatively in 2009 and 2010. Meanwhile, the prevalence of hypertension and diabetes increased dramatically into the top 10 diseases. c) The acute diseases were mainly distributed in township hospitals, while the chronic diseases were mainly distributed in county-level hospitals. ConclusionThe major burden of diseases is the diseases of the respiratory, digestive and circulatory diseases in Xinjin county of Chengdu city from 2009 to 2010. The chronic diseases are mainly distributed in county-level hospitals, while the acute diseases are mainly distributed in township hospitals or community healthcare centres. The common diseases are relatively stable which provide better conditions for the selection and use of the essential medical services and essential medicine list.
ObjectiveTo investigate the human resources of village doctors for integrated management among township hospitals and village clinics in Xinjing county of Chengdu in 2010, so as to provide the evidence for optimal allocation of human resources in village level. MethodsThe information of village doctors in 2010, such as age, gender, educational level, professional license and work experience, were collected and analyzed using Microsoft Excel 2003 and SPSS 13.0. Resultsa) In Xinjin county, 213 village doctors were managed by 11 township hospitals (TH) in 2010 with the average of 19 village doctors in each TH; b) only 3 out of 11 THs achieved the national requirement of at least one village doctor per 1 000 rural population; to a greater or lesser extent, the shortage of village doctors existed in the rest 8 THs; c) Among the village doctors, the male-to-female ratio was 2.2 (68.5% vs. 31.5%). The village doctors younger than 45 years, 45 to 59 years, or no less than 60 years accounted for 42.8%, 18.8%, 38.5%, respectively. Those who graduated from secondary schools or elementary schools accounted for 90% (52.6% and 38%, respectively). d) Only 94.8% had the village doctor license. Among the 213 village doctors, only 1.4% and 3.6% were registered doctors or assistant doctors respectively. Those who worked longer than 30 years, 20-29 years, 10 to 19 years, and 5 to 9 years accounted for 44.6%, 12.2%, 29.6% and 6.1%, respectively. ConclusionThe quantity and quality of the village doctors in Xinjin county were insufficient to meet the requirement with aging teams, low education levels, and lack of professional qualifications. Therefore, the related policies should be implemented to maintain the stability of the village doctor teams, to improve the qualification and quality of service, and to promote the sustainable development of primary healthcare services.
ObjectiveTo rapidly review the effectiveness, safety, costs and applicability of helical tomotherapy (HT), so as to provide currently-available best evidence for decision makers of government health policies. MethodsWe electronically searched databases including PubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, CNKI, WanFang Data, VIP, CBM and other relevant professional websites. Two reviewers independently screened literature according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted data, assessed quality, and then performed descriptive analysis. Resultsa) We finally included 150 studies, encompassing 5 health technology assessments (HTAs), 18 clinical controlled trials (CCTs), and 127 observational studies. b) Four included HTAs were published during 2006-2009, providing fairly less evidence of low quality and the results of 145 primary studies showed that:HT was mainly used in the treatments of 14 types of cancer, with relatively low total toxicity and high survival rates. Although the quality of the included studies was poor, there was much evidence about prostate cancer, head and neck cancer, nasopharynx cancer, cervical cancer, lung cancer and liver cancer, with accumulatively enough sample size and fairly reliable results in HT's efficacy and safety. And c) a total of 56 clinical trials had bee registered in Clinicaltrials.gov, most of which were registered by the occident; among them, 9 had been come to the end, yet without results published. ConclusionCurrent evidence of this study showed that, HT is safe and effective in clinic. But the abovementioned conclusion needs to be verified by conducting more high quality studies with long-term follow-up. The costs of HT in procurement, maintenance and application are high; and the skills, training and qualification of operators are required. We suggest that the procurement of HT should be reduced; it should be allocated rationally and effectively used after comprehensive assessment in China's cancer epidemiology characteristics, health resource allocation, disease burden, medical service level, etc.; and also high quality studies with long-term follow-up should be financially supported on the basis of establishing projects, so as to provide local evidence and consistently guide and improve scientific decision making.