Analysis of inequality in the distribution of general practitioners in China: evidence from 2012 to 2018

AIM: This paper aims to analyze the inequalities in general practitioner (GP) distribution in China. BACKGROUND: GPs-based primary health care (PHC) has been implemented from 2011 in China, aiming to improve the accessibility and quality of basic medical and healthcare services. GPs in China, as the...

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Autores principales: Yang, Le, Cheng, Jingmin
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Cambridge University Press 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9532852/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36117274
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1463423622000408
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author Yang, Le
Cheng, Jingmin
author_facet Yang, Le
Cheng, Jingmin
author_sort Yang, Le
collection PubMed
description AIM: This paper aims to analyze the inequalities in general practitioner (GP) distribution in China. BACKGROUND: GPs-based primary health care (PHC) has been implemented from 2011 in China, aiming to improve the accessibility and quality of basic medical and healthcare services. GPs in China, as the gatekeeper of people’s health, mainly undertake integrated health services at the grass-roots level. METHODS: The number of GPs and inequality in GPs distribution from 2012 to 2018 was analyzed by the Lorenz Curve/Gini coefficient and Theil L index. Data were extracted from China Health Statistical Yearbook 2013–2019. FINDINGS: The demographic Gini coefficient of GPs changed from 2012 (0.234) to 2018 (0.167), showing high equality in China. In contrast, the Thiel L index from 2012 (0.372) to 2018 (0.345) showed less equality. The decomposition of Thiel L index implicated the inequalities within the divisions. The number of GPs in China shows a fast growth trend since the general practice system established, and the GPs distribution becomes more demographically equitable. However, the shortage of GPs and inequality in their distribution remains severe. More incentive and supportive policies need to be made to enhance the quantity, quality, and structure of GPs in China.
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spelling pubmed-95328522022-10-17 Analysis of inequality in the distribution of general practitioners in China: evidence from 2012 to 2018 Yang, Le Cheng, Jingmin Prim Health Care Res Dev Research Article AIM: This paper aims to analyze the inequalities in general practitioner (GP) distribution in China. BACKGROUND: GPs-based primary health care (PHC) has been implemented from 2011 in China, aiming to improve the accessibility and quality of basic medical and healthcare services. GPs in China, as the gatekeeper of people’s health, mainly undertake integrated health services at the grass-roots level. METHODS: The number of GPs and inequality in GPs distribution from 2012 to 2018 was analyzed by the Lorenz Curve/Gini coefficient and Theil L index. Data were extracted from China Health Statistical Yearbook 2013–2019. FINDINGS: The demographic Gini coefficient of GPs changed from 2012 (0.234) to 2018 (0.167), showing high equality in China. In contrast, the Thiel L index from 2012 (0.372) to 2018 (0.345) showed less equality. The decomposition of Thiel L index implicated the inequalities within the divisions. The number of GPs in China shows a fast growth trend since the general practice system established, and the GPs distribution becomes more demographically equitable. However, the shortage of GPs and inequality in their distribution remains severe. More incentive and supportive policies need to be made to enhance the quantity, quality, and structure of GPs in China. Cambridge University Press 2022-09-19 /pmc/articles/PMC9532852/ /pubmed/36117274 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1463423622000408 Text en © The Author(s) 2022 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Yang, Le
Cheng, Jingmin
Analysis of inequality in the distribution of general practitioners in China: evidence from 2012 to 2018
title Analysis of inequality in the distribution of general practitioners in China: evidence from 2012 to 2018
title_full Analysis of inequality in the distribution of general practitioners in China: evidence from 2012 to 2018
title_fullStr Analysis of inequality in the distribution of general practitioners in China: evidence from 2012 to 2018
title_full_unstemmed Analysis of inequality in the distribution of general practitioners in China: evidence from 2012 to 2018
title_short Analysis of inequality in the distribution of general practitioners in China: evidence from 2012 to 2018
title_sort analysis of inequality in the distribution of general practitioners in china: evidence from 2012 to 2018
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9532852/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36117274
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1463423622000408
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