Mothers' Gender-role Ideologies and Exclusive Breastfeeding in Western Rural China: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Shifts in women's maternal roles may contribute to the global low prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding.

Research Aim: To investigate the association between maternal gender-role ideologies and exclusive breastfeeding in rural China.

Methods: Cross-sectional studies were conducted in 10 counties in Shaanxi Province using random sampling in 2021 and 2023.

Exploring the interplay of living arrangements, social support, and depression among older adults in rural northwest China.

Background: With the intensification of aging, depression among the older adults has become a significant global health challenge, especially in developing countries where the problem is particularly severe. This study aims to explore the association between living arrangements and depression, with a specific focus on examining the mediating role of social support in rural northwest China.

Methods: Data were collected from 501 individuals aged 60 and above in rural Shaanxi Province, northwest China.

Time's ticking! Effects of deadline on the utilization of health services: Evidence from a cluster-randomized controlled trial.

The low utilization of health services in rural areas is an essential factor affecting the health level of rural residents. Based on insights from behavioral economics, this study evaluates the average treatment effect of imposing a deadline on vision-care vouchers (i.e.

The impact of provider-patient communication skills on primary healthcare quality and patient satisfaction in rural China: insights from a standardized patient study.

Objectives: In middle-income countries, poor physician-patient communication remains a recognized barrier to enhancing healthcare quality and patient satisfaction. This study investigates the influence of provider-patient communication skills on healthcare quality and patient satisfaction in the rural primary healthcare setting in China.

Methods: Data were collected from 504 interactions across 348 rural primary healthcare facilities spanning 21 counties in three provinces.

Barriers to uptake of cataract surgery among elderly patients in rural China: a cross-sectional study.

Objective: To investigate factors that differentiate elderly adults in rural China who accept free vision screening and cataract surgery from those who could benefit from vision care but refuse it when offered.

Design: We conducted a population-based, cross-sectional study between October and December 2016. Logistic regression models were used to examine the predictors of accepting free vision screening and cataract surgery.

Preschool or/and kindergarten? The long-term benefits of different types of early childhood education on pupils' skills.

Background: Developing countries have witnessed great progress in early childhood education (ECE) enrollment rate over the past three decades. Preschool and kindergarten are the two most common types of ECE in developing countries. Questions remain as to which of the two types of ECE is more effective in promoting child development in developing countries, including both cognitive and non-cognitive skills.

Beyond mothers: the crucial role of family caregivers' knowledge on exclusive breastfeeding in rural western China.

Background: The exclusive breastfeeding rate in China remains significantly low. Numerous studies have identified the impact of maternal characteristics on exclusive breastfeeding; however, the correlation between primary family caregivers' characteristics, such as health and nutrition knowledge, and exclusive breastfeeding still lacks clarity. The aim of this study is to investigate the association between the health and nutrition knowledge of primary family caregivers and exclusive breastfeeding in rural China.

To investigate the individual and household-level factors influencing the willingness to pay for cataract surgery among patients aged 50 years and older in rural China: a cross-sectional study.

Objectives: To investigate the factors influencing the willingness to pay (WTP) for cataract surgery among patients aged 50 years and older in rural China at both individual and household levels.

Design: A cross-sectional study.

Setting: The study was conducted in Gansu, China.

Association between visual impairment and body mass index in students from rural China.

Introduction: Visual impairment and obesity remain the major public health issues among school-age students in rural areas of China. Obesity is an underlying risk of vision problems. This study aimed to assess the association between visual impairment and body mass index (BMI) among school-age students in rural northwest China.

Relationship between visual impairment and school entrance age in rural China.

Clinical Relevance: Children with uncorrected visual impairment have lower scores on various motor and cognitive tests. Exploring the association between visual impairment and school entrance age among school children in rural China may assist in enhancing the visual health of early-entry school students.

Background: Educational pressures may play a role in the visual health of students.

Patient satisfaction and its health provider-related determinants in primary health facilities in rural China.

Background: Patient satisfaction is an important outcome measure of health service and is one of the main reasons for the gradual deterioration of doctor-patient relationships in China. This study used the standardized patient (SP) method to explore patient satisfaction and its health provider-related determinants among primary health facilities in rural China.

Methods: The dataset comprised 1138 clinic cases in 728 rural primary health facilities in 31 counties, spread across four provinces.

Ordeal mechanisms, information, and the cost-effectiveness of strategies to provide subsidized eyeglasses.

The cost-effectiveness of policies providing subsidized health goods is often compromised by limited use of the goods provided. Through a randomized trial involving 251 primary schools in western China, we tested two approaches to improve the cost-effectiveness of a program distributing free eyeglasses to myopic children. Relative to delivery of free eyeglasses to schools, we find that providing vouchers redeemable in local optical shops modestly improved the targeting of eyeglasses to those who would use them without reducing effective coverage.

Factors Associated with the Spectacle Wear Compliance among Primary School Students with Refractive Error in Rural China.

Purpose: To study the factors determining spectacle-wear compliance and reasons for non-wear among students in rural China.

Methods: This study was based on a spectacle intervention trial among 162 schools in rural China. Students with refractive errors were randomly assigned to either a free or voucher group to receive spectacles at baseline.

Factors influencing post-screening visits of students to local vision centres in rural northwest China.

Clinical Relevance: Children with uncorrected visual impairment have lower scores on a variety of motor and cognitive tests. Exploring the influencing factors of low-income groups seeking vision care services is helpful for identifying relevant barriers and necessary measures to improve the utilization rate of vision care services.

Background: The community-based vision center (VC) is a popular model for solving vision problem of students in rural China.

Exclusive breastfeeding in rural Western China: does father's co-residence matter?

Background: China suffers from a low exclusive breastfeeding rate. Though it has been proofed that paternal support benefits breastfeeding a lot, the correlation between father's co-residence and exclusive breastfeeding in China remain undiscovered. This study is to provide population-based evidence for the association of paternal co-residence on exclusive breastfeeding in rural western China.

Consultation length, process quality and diagnosis quality of primary care in rural China: A cross-sectional standardized patient study.

Objective: Consultation length, the time spent between patient and health care provider during a visit, is an essential element in measuring quality of health care patients receive from a primary care facility. However, the linkage between consultation length and process quality and diagnosis quality of primary care is still uncertain. This study aims to examine the role consultation length plays in delivering process quality and diagnosis quality, two central components of overall primary care quality, in rural China.

Effects of Vision Health Education and Free Eyeglasses on Knowledge of Vision and Usage of Spectacles Among Primary School Students: Evidence from Gansu and Shaanxi Provinces in China.

Background: In rural China, children's vision problems are very common, with many who would benefit from refractive correction not getting the care they need. This study examines whether a health information campaign that involves vision health education and a free trial of health product with free eyeglasses is effective at raising students' awareness of myopia and promoting students' eyeglasses usage.

Methods: We conducted an in-the-field randomized controlled experiment of a program providing vision health education and subsidized free eyeglasses to myopic children from 168 primary schools in rural Northwestern China in 2012.

Associations between Maternal and Infant Illness and the Risk of Postpartum Depression in Rural China: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study.

This study explored how maternal and infant illness correlated with the risk of postpartum depression in the Chinese Qinba Mountains region. In total, 131 villages comprising 435 families with infants (≤6 months old) were randomly sampled. We collected data on maternal and infant illnesses and maternal health knowledge level.

Regularity of Clinical Visits and Medication Adherence of Patients with Hypertension or Diabetes in Rural Yunnan Province of China.

Chronic diseases can be controlled through effective self-management. The purpose of this study is to explore the regularity of clinical visits and medication adherence of patients with hypertension or diabetes (PWHD), and its association with the first experience with care and individual factors in rural Southwestern China. This cross-sectional study was carried out in Yunnan province in 2018 and recruited 292 PWHD and 122 village clinics from 122 villages in 10 counties.

What Can Children Learn from a Free Trial of Eyeglasses Use? Evidence from a Cluster‑Randomized Controlled Trial in Rural China.

Free trial is a widely used business strategy that takes advantage of information asymmetry. However, evidence on what we can learn and how rapidly we can learn from a free trial of health care is limited. This study evaluates the effect of a free trial of eyeglasses on children's 8 items of perception related to eyeglasses use.

The Effect of Boarding on the Mental Health of Primary School Students in Western Rural China.

Based on the panel data of 20,594 fourth- and fifth-grade students in the western provinces A and B in China, this paper analyzed the effect of boarding at school on the mental health of students using a combination of the propensity score matching (PSM) and difference-in-differences (DID) methods. The results showed that boarding had no significant effect on the mental health of students, but the tendency of loneliness among boarding school students was increased. Heterogeneity analysis found that fifth-grade students whose parents had both left home to work were more likely to have poorer mental health when boarding.

Reliability and validity of the Caregiver Reported Early Development Instruments (CREDI) in impoverished regions of China.

Background: There is a great need in low- and middle- income countries for sound qualitative and monitoring tools assessing early childhood development outcomes. Although there are many instruments to measure the developmental status of infants and toddlers, their use in large scale studies is still limited because of high costs in both time and money. The Caregiver Reported Early Development Instruments (CREDI), however, were designed to serve as a population-level measure of early childhood development for children from birth to age three, and have been used in 17 low- and middle-income countries.

Conditional cash transfers, uptake of maternal and child health services, and health outcomes in western rural China.

Background: Empirical evidence suggests that the uptake of maternal and child health (MCH) services is still low in poor rural areas of China. There is concern that this low uptake may detrimentally affect child health outcomes. Previous studies have not yet identified the exact nature of the impact that a conditional cash transfer (CCT) has on the uptake of MCH services and, ultimately, on child health outcomes.

Using incognito standardised patients to evaluate quality of eye care in China.

Background/aims: Few studies have objectively examined the quality of eye care in China. We assessed refractive care using the incognito standardised patient (SP) approach, a gold standard for evaluating clinical practice.

Methods: A total of 52 SPs were trained to provide standardised responses during eye examinations, and underwent automated and non-cycloplegic, subjective refraction by a senior ophthalmologist from Zhongshan Ophthalmologic Center, a national-level clinical and research centre.

Parental Migration and Early Childhood Development in Rural China.

Nearly one-quarter of all children under age 2 in China are left behind in the countryside as parents migrate to urban areas for work. We use a four-wave longitudinal survey following young children from 6 to 30 months of age to provide first evidence on the effects of parental migration on development, health, and nutritional outcomes in the critical first stages of life. We find that maternal migration has a negative effect on cognitive development: migration before children reach 12 months of age reduces cognitive development by 0.