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.
Object To investigate the constitution and expense of inpatient diseases in Jili Community Health Service Center (JCHSC) in Liuyang City of Hunan Province from 2008 to 2010, so as to provide baseline data for further study. Methods The questionnaire was applied and inpatient records in JCHSC between 2008 and 2010 were collected. The diseases were classified and standardized according to the International Classification of Disease, 10th Edition (ICD-10) based on the first diagnosis extracted from discharge records. Such information as general condition, discharge diagnosis and medical expenses etc. were analyzed by using statistic software of Microsoft Excel 2003 and SPSS 13.0. Results a) There were 9 chronic diseases and 6 acute ones among the top 15 single diseases, and both the average hospital stay and per-average hospitalization expense of chronic diseases were higher than those of acute ones (7.8 days vs. 5.6 days; ?2 733 vs. ?1551); b) Per-average expense of drugs as for both acute and chronic diseases accounted for nearly 50% of the total/general expense; c) There were 3 types of treatment models in JCHSC. Model A was only the internal medicine therapy, Model B was internal medicine assisted with surgery, and Model C was surgery assisted with internal medicine therapy; d) In detail, the total per-average expenses in JCHSC between 2008 to 2010 as for each single disease were as follows: coronary heart diseases (CHD, ?2 374 to ?2 680), urinary calculi (?3 268 to ?3 337), chronic bronchitis (?2 452 to ?2 488); e) Per-average hospitalization expenses in internal departments were ?1 719 to ?1 942 for acute diseases and ?2 386 and ?2 523 for chronic ones. Among surgical departments, the per-average hospitalization expenses as for acute diseases and chronic diseases were ?1 438 to ?1 579 and ?3 044 to ?3 607, respectively; and f) The average hospital stay for acute diseases in internal departments were 5.5 to 5.8 days for acute diseases and 6.9 to 7.3 days for chronic ones. By contrast, those in surgical departments were 5.9 to 6.2 days for acute diseases and 8.3 days for chronic ones, respectively. Conclusion a) In JCHSC, a total of 7 inpatient diseases among the top 15 single diseases in 2010 are all chronic with per-average total expense over ?2 000, which is higher than the average level of national CHSC (?2 357.6); b) According to the features of expense constitution models of the inpatient single diseases, the hospitalization expense should be controlled specifically; c) There are 3 kinds of diseases with yearly-increasing per-average total expenses as CHD, hypertension and pulmonary infection during recent 3 years; meanwhile, 4 diseases are with yearly-decreasing per-average total expenses as chronic bronchitis, cholecystolithias or accompanied with cholecystitis, diabetes and inguinal hernia; d) The per-average expenses of chronic diseases in surgical departments are higher than those in internal departments, but those of the acute diseases in surgical departments are lower. Meanwhile, the per-average total expenses as for both chronic and acute diseases in surgical departments present a decline trend year by year. Although the per-average expense on drugs as for both acute and chronic diseases in internal departments show a decline trend, the per-average total expenses indicate an ascending trend; and f) The average hospital stay of chronic diseases is longer than acute ones, while that of the surgical diseases is also longer than internal ones.
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.
ObjectiveTo know about equipment of pulmonary function tests (PFTs) in community health service centers and the knowledge of pulmonary function in general physicians.MethodsThis questionnaire survey was carried out sponsored by Shanghai Basic Alliance for Respiratory Diseases Prevention and Treatment from June to December in 2016. Most community health service centers in 16 districts of Shanghai participated the survey. The questionnaire included education background, professional qualification, PFTs equipment, and knowledge about PFTs.ResultsThere were 963 general physicians in 131 community health service centers completed the questionnaire. There were 27 (20.6%) community health service centers equipped with simplified pulmonary function test device and 910 (94.5%) physicians knowing PFTs. Out of these 910 physicians, 458 physicians (50.3%) gave the correct answer on question about the items of PFTs. The accuracy of question about the diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was 24.0% (218/910).ConclusionsThe rate of community health service centers with equipment on PFTs is low and the knowledge on pulmonary function in general physicians is insufficentt in Shanghai. Training on pulmonary function is essential to adapt the stratified treatment of COPD.