[An evaluation of the maternal and child health services in Qinba Health Project in Sichuan province].

Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of interventions taken by Qinba Health Project on the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) services in Sichuan province.

Methods: Stratified random sampling was undertaken to select participants for the evaluation. Eighty one villages in 27 towns in the nine project counties and 27 villages in nine towns in three non-project counties with similar social economic backgrounds were selected. A questionnaire survey was undertaken in all of the selected health facilities and 462 women who received maternal services during the project time. Multiple variable regression analysis was performed to identify determinants of the change of services.

Results: The project MCH services reached the expected targets. The project towns improved their MCH services more significantly than the non-project towns. The logistic regression analysis identified project intervention, maternal age, average family income, health insurance, numbers of pre-natal examinations, eligibility to poverty alleviation, and knowledge as key determinants of the improvement of MCH services.

Conclusion: The project intervention is effective in improving MCH services. However, more attentions to poverty alleviation and health promotion need to be paid.