TY - JOUR
T1 - Comparing quality of public primary care between Hong Kong and Shanghai using validated patient assessment tools
AU - Wei, Xiaolin
AU - Li, Haitao
AU - Yang, Nan
AU - Wong, Samuel Y.S.
AU - Owolabi, Onikepe
AU - Xu, Jianguang
AU - Shi, Leiyu
AU - Tang, Jinling
AU - Li, Donald
AU - Griffiths, Sian M.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank colleagues from the Telephone Survey Research Laboratory in the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and the Shanghai Association of Community Health Staff who facilitated in data collection. The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support of the Research Grants Council (RGC) of Hong Kong (CUHK 4002-SPPR-10) and the Communicable Disease and Health Service Delivery (COMDIS HSD) Research Consortium of the Department for International Development of the UK Government (UKAID).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Wei et al.
PY - 2015/3/31
Y1 - 2015/3/31
N2 - Objectives: Primary care is the key element of health reform in China. The objective of this study was to compare patient assessed quality of public primary care between Hong Kong, a city with established primary care environment influenced by its colonial history, and Shanghai, a city leading primary care reform in Mainland China; and to measure the equity of care in the two cities. Methods: Cross sectional stratified random sampling surveys were conducted in 2011. Data were collected from 1,994 respondents in Hong Kong and 811 respondents in Shanghai. A validated Chinese version of the primary care assessment tool was employed to assess perceived quality of primary care with respect to socioeconomic characteristics and health status. Results: We analyzed 391 and 725 respondents in Hong Kong and Shanghai, respectively, who were regular public primary care users. Respondents in Hong Kong reported significant lower scores in first contact accessibility (1.59 vs. 2.15), continuity of care (2.33 vs. 3.10), coordination of information (2.84 vs. 3.64), comprehensiveness service availability (2.43 vs. 3.31), comprehensiveness service provided (2.11 vs. 2.40), and the total score (23.40 vs. 27.40), but higher scores in first contact utilization (3.15 vs. 2.54) and coordination of services (2.67 vs. 2.40) when compared with those in Shanghai. Respondents with higher income reported a significantly higher total primary care score in Hong Kong, but not in Shanghai. Conclusions: Respondents in Shanghai reported better quality of public primary care than those in Hong Kong, while quality of public primary care tended to be more equitable in Shanghai.
AB - Objectives: Primary care is the key element of health reform in China. The objective of this study was to compare patient assessed quality of public primary care between Hong Kong, a city with established primary care environment influenced by its colonial history, and Shanghai, a city leading primary care reform in Mainland China; and to measure the equity of care in the two cities. Methods: Cross sectional stratified random sampling surveys were conducted in 2011. Data were collected from 1,994 respondents in Hong Kong and 811 respondents in Shanghai. A validated Chinese version of the primary care assessment tool was employed to assess perceived quality of primary care with respect to socioeconomic characteristics and health status. Results: We analyzed 391 and 725 respondents in Hong Kong and Shanghai, respectively, who were regular public primary care users. Respondents in Hong Kong reported significant lower scores in first contact accessibility (1.59 vs. 2.15), continuity of care (2.33 vs. 3.10), coordination of information (2.84 vs. 3.64), comprehensiveness service availability (2.43 vs. 3.31), comprehensiveness service provided (2.11 vs. 2.40), and the total score (23.40 vs. 27.40), but higher scores in first contact utilization (3.15 vs. 2.54) and coordination of services (2.67 vs. 2.40) when compared with those in Shanghai. Respondents with higher income reported a significantly higher total primary care score in Hong Kong, but not in Shanghai. Conclusions: Respondents in Shanghai reported better quality of public primary care than those in Hong Kong, while quality of public primary care tended to be more equitable in Shanghai.
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U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0121269
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0121269
M3 - Article
C2 - 25826616
AN - SCOPUS:84926432091
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 10
JO - PloS one
JF - PloS one
IS - 3
M1 - e0121269
ER -