ArticleHuman resources for health2014
Aging village doctors in five counties in rural China: situation and implications.
Article in Human resources for health, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.
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Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed.
- Village doctor-led integrated care for older adults with diabetes in rural China: a cluster-randomized pilot trial.BMC geriatrics · 2026Trial
- A specific role of village doctors in reducing disparities: a quantile regression analysis of end-of-life medical care.BMC palliative care · 2025Article
- Factors influencing reselection of village doctors in rural-oriented tuition-waived medical education program in Shanghai, China: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
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- Systemic glucocorticoid prescriptions pattern and factors of inappropriate use in primary care institutions of Southwest China.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- How does the turnover intention of village clinic doctors change after China's new health care system reform? A comparison based on three surveys in a province in eastern China.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- Do Rural Residents in China Understand EQ-5D-5L as Intended? Evidence From a Qualitative Study.PharmacoEconomics - open · 2021Article
- Prevalence and Associated Factors of Fecal Incontinence and Double Incontinence among Rural Elderly in North China.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- Prescribing patterns of encounters in fourteen general practice clinics in rural Beijing: a cross-sectional study.BMC health services research · 2019Article
- Description of an online hospital platform, China.Bulletin of the World Health Organization · 2019Article
- Observational
- Different predictors of pain severity across age and gender of a Chinese rural population: a cross-sectional survey.BMJ open · 2018Article
- Does exam-targeted training help village doctors pass the certified (assistant) physician exam and improve their practical skills? A cross-sectional analysis of village doctors' perspectives in Changzhou in Eastern China.BMC medical education · 2018Article
- Aging of hospital physicians in rural Japan: A longitudinal study based on national census data.PloS one · 2018Article
- Geographical distribution and profile of medical doctors in public sector hospitals of the Limpopo Province, South Africa.African journal of primary health care & family medicine · 2017Article
- Determinants of village doctors' job satisfaction under China's health sector reform: a cross-sectional mixed methods study.International journal for equity in health · 2017Article
- Observational
- Evaluation and mechanism for outcomes exploration of providing public health care in contract service in rural China: a multiple-case study with complex adaptive systems design.BMC public health · 2015Article
- Article
- Web-based training for primary healthcare workers in rural China: a qualitative exploration of stakeholders' perceptions.PloS one · 2015Article
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7 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundThe aging population, rapid urbanization, and epidemiology transition in China call for the improvement and adaptation of the health workforce, especially in underserved rural areas. The aging of village doctors (the former "barefoot doctors") who have served the rural residents for many decades has become a warning signal for the human resources for health in China. This study aims to investigate the village doctors' aging situation and its implications in rural China.
methodsThe data reviewed were obtained from the baseline survey of a longitudinal study of rural health workforce in five counties in rural China in 2011. Using a stratified multi-stage cluster sampling process, the baseline data was collected through the self-administered structured Village Doctor Questionnaire. Descriptive analyses, correlation analyses, and multivariate linear regression with interaction terms were conducted with the statistics software Stata 12.0.
resultsThe average age of the 1,927 village doctors was 49.3 years (95% CI 48.8 to 49.9), 870 (45.2%) of whom were aging (50 years or older). Both the age and the recruitment time of the village doctors were demonstrated to have a bimodal distribution. A greater proportion of the male village doctors were aging. Furthermore, aging of the village doctors was significantly correlated to their education level, type of qualification, practicing methods, and their status as village clinic directors (P <0.05, respectively). As shown in the regression models, aging village doctors provided significantly more outpatient services to rural residents (P <0.01) but without an increase in income, and their expected pension was lower (P <0.01), compared with their non-aging counterparts.
conclusionsAging of village doctors is a serious and imperative issue in China, which has a complex and profound impact on the rural health system. Greater attention should be paid to the construction of the pension system and the replenishment of the village doctors with qualified medical graduates.
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