Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41108156›Full record

ArticleHealth policy and planning2026

Job preferences and trade-offs in rural health workforce retention: a discrete choice experiment from western China.

Dongqiong Chen, Zigang Zhang, Sisi Ma, Jia Yin, Li Zhao, Lihua Jiang

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Health policy and planning, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Dongqiong ChenDepartment of Health Policy and Management, West China School of Public Health and West China Fourth Hospital, Sichuan University, No. 17, Section 3, Renmin South Road, Wuhou District, Chengdu 610041, China.
Zigang ZhangDepartment of Health Policy and Management, West China School of Public Health and West China Fourth Hospital, Sichuan University, No. 17, Section 3, Renmin South Road, Wuhou District, Chengdu 610041, China.
Sisi MaDepartment of Health Policy and Management, West China School of Public Health and West China Fourth Hospital, Sichuan University, No. 17, Section 3, Renmin South Road, Wuhou District, Chengdu 610041, China.
Jia YinHuman Resources Service Centre, Health Commission of Sichuan Province, No. 2 Yulin South Street, Wuhou District, Chengdu 610041, China.
Li ZhaoDepartment of Health Policy and Management, West China School of Public Health and West China Fourth Hospital, Sichuan University, No. 17, Section 3, Renmin South Road, Wuhou District, Chengdu 610041, China.
Lihua JiangDepartment of Health Policy and Management, West China School of Public Health and West China Fourth Hospital, Sichuan University, No. 17, Section 3, Renmin South Road, Wuhou District, Chengdu 610041, China.

Funding

Molecular Dissection of Alcohol Use Disorder Through Targeted Brain Multi-omicsR01AA031017 · NIAAA · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI Matthew J Girgenti · 2024 to 2026
$1.7M
National Health Commission of People's Republic of China SQ2024AAA031017NIAAA NIH HHS R01 AA031017Research Centre for Medical Science and Technology Development
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The shortage and uneven distribution of primary healthcare workers in rural China have long persisted, with many studies focusing predominantly on salary and working conditions improvement. A discrete choice experiment involving 183 rural primary healthcare workers in Sichuan Province revealed the critical role of Bianzhi (a state-controlled employment system) in workforce retention. Findings demonstrated that Bianzhi dominated job preferences (β=0.964), with practitioners willing to sacrifice 18.2% of their monthly income to exchange for it. Beyond Bianzhi, near location, housing allowances, opportunities for continuing education, and children's education support significantly influenced job choices. Female workers exhibited 1.189 times greater sensitivity to workplace proximity than males (P < 0.001), while those with school-age children required 12.64% additional compensation for remote postings. Policy simulations indicated that combining Bianzhi with children's education support outperformed salary incentives alone. The study advocates optimizing rural healthcare workforce strategies by narrowing the gap between Bianzhi and non-Bianzhi positions, complemented by gender-sensitive and family-friendly measures. For other LMICs, it highlights the importance of understanding the true needs of health workers with different employment statuses.

Indexed as

Career ChoiceChoice BehaviorHealth PersonnelHealth WorkforceRural Health ServicesAdultChinaEmploymentFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPersonnel TurnoverRural PopulationSalaries and Fringe BenefitsSex FactorsBianzhidiscrete choice experimentprimary healthcare workforcerural areas

Identifiers

PMID41108156
PMCPMC12906763

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.