Published in:
Open Access 01-12-2015 | Research
Contribution of primary care to health: an individual level analysis from Tibet, China
Published in: International Journal for Equity in Health | Issue 1/2015
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Introduction
There have been significant improvements in health outcomes in Tibet, health disparities between Tibet and the rest of China has been greatly reduced. This paper tests whether there was a positive association between good primary care and better health outcomes in Tibet.
Method
A validated Tibetan version of the Primary Care Assessment Tool (PCAT-T) was used to collect data on 1386 patients aged over 18 years old accessing primary care. Self-rated health (SRH) was employed to measure health outcomes. A multiple binary logistic regression model was used to explore the association between primary care quality and self-rated health status after controlling for socio-demographic and lifestyle variables.
Results
This study found that primary care quality had a significant positive association with self-rated health status. Among the nine domains of PCAT-T, family centeredness domain had the highest Odds Ratio (OR = 1.013) with SRH. Patients located in rural area, with higher education levels, without depression, and less frequent drinking were more likely to self-rate as “good health” compared with the reference group.
Conclusions
In Tibet, higher quality primary care was associated with better self-rated health status. Primary care should be much strengthened in future health system reform in Tibet.