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Li G, Zhang D, Chen Z, Feng D, Chen X, Tang S, Son H, Wang Z, Xi Y, Feng Z. Distribution of malaria patients seeking care in different types of health facilities during the implementation of National Malaria Elimination Programme. Malar J 2020; 19:131. [PMID: 32228594 PMCID: PMC7106820 DOI: 10.1186/s12936-020-03205-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2019] [Accepted: 03/23/2020] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND China launched the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) in 2010 and set the goal that all health facilities should be able to diagnose malaria. Additionally, hospitals at all levels could treat malaria by 2015. To provide a reference for the control of imported malaria, a study was conducted on the distribution of malaria patients seeking care in different types of health facilities. METHODS There were two data sources. One was obtained through the Infectious Diseases Information Reporting Management System (IDIRMS), which only contained the name of health facilities and the number of cases. The other was obtained through multistage stratified cluster sampling. Descriptive statistical analysis was used to investigate the distribution of malaria patients attending different types of health facilities (hospitals, township hospitals, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), hospital tiers (county-level, prefecture-level, and provincial-level), and hospital levels (primary, secondary, and tertiary). Chi-square test was also used to compare the proportions of patients seeking care outside their current residence region between different types of hospitals. Point maps were drawn to visualize the spatial distribution of hospitals reporting malaria cases, and flow maps were created to show the spatial flow of malaria patients by using the ArcGIS software. RESULTS The proportions of malaria patients who sought care in hospitals, township hospitals, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were 81.7%, 14.7%, and 3.6%, respectively. For those who sought care in hospitals, the percentages of patients who sought care in provincial-level, prefecture-level and county-level hospitals were 17.4%, 60.5% and 22.1%, correspondingly; the proportions of patients who sought care in tertiary hospitals, secondary hospitals, and primary hospitals were 59.8%, 39.9%, and 0.3%, respectively. Moreover, the proportions of patients seeking care in hospitals within county and prefectural administrative areas were 18.2%, 63.4%, respectively. CONCLUSION During the implementation of NMEP, malaria patients tended to seek care in tertiary hospitals and prefecture-level hospitals, and more than half of patients could be treated in hospitals in prefecture-level areas. In the current phase, it is necessary to establish referral system from county-level hospitals to higher-level hospitals for malaria treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gang Li
- School of Medicine and Health Management, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, Hubei, China
| | - Donglan Zhang
- Department of Health Policy and Management, College of Public Health, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA
| | - Zhuo Chen
- Department of Health Policy and Management, College of Public Health, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA.,School of Economics, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, Ningbo, 531200, Zhejiang, China
| | - Da Feng
- School of Pharmacy, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, Hubei, China
| | - Xiaoyu Chen
- School of Medicine and Health Management, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, Hubei, China
| | - Shangfeng Tang
- School of Medicine and Health Management, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, Hubei, China
| | - Heejung Son
- Department of Health Policy and Management, College of Public Health, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA
| | - Zhenhua Wang
- Department of Mathematics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA
| | - Yuanhang Xi
- Department of Health Policy and Management, College of Public Health, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA
| | - Zhanchun Feng
- School of Medicine and Health Management, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, Hubei, China.
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