Cargando…
Strengthening of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Health System Reform: Effect on Health Outcomes and Financial Protection
BACKGROUND: The challenges of modern medicine in addressing chronic diseases necessitate a shift of attention towards traditional medicine (TM) and other supplementary care systems. China has prioritized the strengthening of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the health system reform since 2009....
Autores principales: | , , , , , , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Hindawi
2022
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8791714/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35096115 http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/7226674 |
_version_ | 1784640244638810112 |
---|---|
author | He, Ping Zhu, Dawei Man, Xiaowei Bai, Qian Huang, Lieyu Shi, Xuefeng Meng, Qingyue |
author_facet | He, Ping Zhu, Dawei Man, Xiaowei Bai, Qian Huang, Lieyu Shi, Xuefeng Meng, Qingyue |
author_sort | He, Ping |
collection | PubMed |
description | BACKGROUND: The challenges of modern medicine in addressing chronic diseases necessitate a shift of attention towards traditional medicine (TM) and other supplementary care systems. China has prioritized the strengthening of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the health system reform since 2009. This study sought to assess the effects of the reform on TCM and the resultant effect of a strengthened TCM on health outcomes and financial protection. METHODS: Longitudinal data were obtained from the China Statistical Yearbook, China Health Statistical Yearbook, China Population Statistical Yearbook, and Statistical Extract of Traditional Chinese Medicine in 31 provinces of mainland China between 2002 and 2016. Dependent variables included health outcomes measured by age-standardized excess mortality and life expectancy at birth and financial protection measured by the proportion of health expenses in total consumption expenses. The independent variables consisted of the number and proportion of TCM physicians. The fixed effects (FEs) models were established to identify the effect of the independent variables on outcomes. RESULTS: From 2009 to 2016, the number and proportion of TCM physicians increased from 22 to 36 physicians per 100,000 population and from <12% to >15%, respectively. The changes were more rapid and higher than that in the period before the reform. An increase of 1 TCM physician per 100,000 population was associated with a decrease of 1.944 excess deaths, a 5.84-day increase in male life expectancy, and a decrease of 0.051% of health expenses among both urban and rural residents. An increase in proportion of 1% of TCM physicians was associated with a decrease of 5.097 excess deaths, a 17.52-day increase of life expectancy (both genders), an increase of 21.535-day in life expectancy (males) per 100,000 population, and a decrease of 0.082% of health expenses among rural residents. CONCLUSION: During China's health system reform, the increased physician number has strengthened TCM. Higher TCM physician supply was associated with improved health outcomes and financial protection, which implies that the reform may have important implications on health system performance in China. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-8791714 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2022 |
publisher | Hindawi |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-87917142022-01-27 Strengthening of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Health System Reform: Effect on Health Outcomes and Financial Protection He, Ping Zhu, Dawei Man, Xiaowei Bai, Qian Huang, Lieyu Shi, Xuefeng Meng, Qingyue Evid Based Complement Alternat Med Research Article BACKGROUND: The challenges of modern medicine in addressing chronic diseases necessitate a shift of attention towards traditional medicine (TM) and other supplementary care systems. China has prioritized the strengthening of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the health system reform since 2009. This study sought to assess the effects of the reform on TCM and the resultant effect of a strengthened TCM on health outcomes and financial protection. METHODS: Longitudinal data were obtained from the China Statistical Yearbook, China Health Statistical Yearbook, China Population Statistical Yearbook, and Statistical Extract of Traditional Chinese Medicine in 31 provinces of mainland China between 2002 and 2016. Dependent variables included health outcomes measured by age-standardized excess mortality and life expectancy at birth and financial protection measured by the proportion of health expenses in total consumption expenses. The independent variables consisted of the number and proportion of TCM physicians. The fixed effects (FEs) models were established to identify the effect of the independent variables on outcomes. RESULTS: From 2009 to 2016, the number and proportion of TCM physicians increased from 22 to 36 physicians per 100,000 population and from <12% to >15%, respectively. The changes were more rapid and higher than that in the period before the reform. An increase of 1 TCM physician per 100,000 population was associated with a decrease of 1.944 excess deaths, a 5.84-day increase in male life expectancy, and a decrease of 0.051% of health expenses among both urban and rural residents. An increase in proportion of 1% of TCM physicians was associated with a decrease of 5.097 excess deaths, a 17.52-day increase of life expectancy (both genders), an increase of 21.535-day in life expectancy (males) per 100,000 population, and a decrease of 0.082% of health expenses among rural residents. CONCLUSION: During China's health system reform, the increased physician number has strengthened TCM. Higher TCM physician supply was associated with improved health outcomes and financial protection, which implies that the reform may have important implications on health system performance in China. Hindawi 2022-01-19 /pmc/articles/PMC8791714/ /pubmed/35096115 http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/7226674 Text en Copyright © 2022 Ping He et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
spellingShingle | Research Article He, Ping Zhu, Dawei Man, Xiaowei Bai, Qian Huang, Lieyu Shi, Xuefeng Meng, Qingyue Strengthening of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Health System Reform: Effect on Health Outcomes and Financial Protection |
title | Strengthening of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Health System Reform: Effect on Health Outcomes and Financial Protection |
title_full | Strengthening of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Health System Reform: Effect on Health Outcomes and Financial Protection |
title_fullStr | Strengthening of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Health System Reform: Effect on Health Outcomes and Financial Protection |
title_full_unstemmed | Strengthening of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Health System Reform: Effect on Health Outcomes and Financial Protection |
title_short | Strengthening of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Health System Reform: Effect on Health Outcomes and Financial Protection |
title_sort | strengthening of traditional chinese medicine in the health system reform: effect on health outcomes and financial protection |
topic | Research Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8791714/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35096115 http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/7226674 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT heping strengtheningoftraditionalchinesemedicineinthehealthsystemreformeffectonhealthoutcomesandfinancialprotection AT zhudawei strengtheningoftraditionalchinesemedicineinthehealthsystemreformeffectonhealthoutcomesandfinancialprotection AT manxiaowei strengtheningoftraditionalchinesemedicineinthehealthsystemreformeffectonhealthoutcomesandfinancialprotection AT baiqian strengtheningoftraditionalchinesemedicineinthehealthsystemreformeffectonhealthoutcomesandfinancialprotection AT huanglieyu strengtheningoftraditionalchinesemedicineinthehealthsystemreformeffectonhealthoutcomesandfinancialprotection AT shixuefeng strengtheningoftraditionalchinesemedicineinthehealthsystemreformeffectonhealthoutcomesandfinancialprotection AT mengqingyue strengtheningoftraditionalchinesemedicineinthehealthsystemreformeffectonhealthoutcomesandfinancialprotection |