Factors Associated With Hospitalization Costs of Coronary Heart Disease in Township Hospitals in Rural China

In large proportions of rural areas in many developing countries, health care delivery system is less developed and is less likely to be equipped to conduct sophisticated treatment for coronary heart disease (CHD) patients locally. This study aims at describing the status quo of and exploring factors associated with hospitalization costs of CHD in township hospitals where only drug therapy was available for CHD conditions. We collected data of inpatients with CHD from discharge records from 10 township hospitals in rural Liaoning from December 2013 to December 2014. We used multilevel linear regression to analyze the factors associated with CHD hospitalization costs. A total of 4635 inpatients were included in the analysis. We found that the average hospitalization costs were 6249.97 RMB (US$1012.47) with the average of 8.89 days of hospitalization in township hospitals in Liaoning. Age, gender, length of stay, the number of times of admissions, by which route was hospitalized, and type of CHD were all the factors significantly associated with hospitalization costs of CHD in township hospitals. The factors associated with hospitalization costs of CHD in township hospitals in rural China showed some different features from the existing studies. When the government designs the related policy, the policy makers need to consider the specific feature of hospitalization costs of CHD in township hospitals in rural areas.