Study on healthcare level and its relationship with medical radiation in China

Objective

To evaluate the health-care level (HCL), one of the most extensively used indicators to assess the level of medical exposure, and its influencing factors in China.

Methods

Based on the data from the China Statistical Yearbook of the National Bureau of Statistics and other public documents, HCL was calculated in terms of the number of physicians per head of population throughout the country. Multiple linear regression was used to analyze the association of HCL with main socioeconomic factors, including population size, area, number of administrative divisions and gross domestic product (GDP).

Results

Since 2015, there has been at least one physician for every 1,000 people in China on average. However, by 2019, there has yet been one physician for more than 1,000 people in each of two provinces. By 2020, there was at least one physician for every 1,000 people across all 31 provincial-level administrative districts (provinces). The population size and GDP were the influencing factors on HCL, with correlation coefficients of 0.416 and −0.583, respectively. Furthermore, a moderate correlation was found between HCL and the frequency of medical exposure (FME) to ionizing radiation (r ​= ​−0.620, P ​= ​0.028).

Conclusion

There has been at least one physician for every 1,000 people since 2015, but there are great differences between various provinces. HCL as an indicator to evaluate level of medical exposure is warranted further research in China.