Equity assessment of the distribution of mental health beds in China: based on longitudinal data from 2011 to 2020

BMC Health Services Research

Research

Jun Cai¹  Bin Xie¹  Weibo Zhang²  Yanping Guo³  Xin Fan³ 

[1] Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 200030, Shanghai, China;Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 200030, Shanghai, China;Center for Mental Health Management, China Hospital Development Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 200030, Shanghai, China;Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 200030, Shanghai, China;Shanghai Center for Mental Disease Control and Prevention, 200030, Shanghai, China;

关键词: Mental health bed;    Resource allocation;    Equity;    Gini coefficient;    Lorenz curve;    Theil index;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12913-022-08658-z

 received in 2022-06-30, accepted in 2022-10-07,  发布年份 2022

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundMental health problems have become a public health problem that needs to be solved in China. However, medical resources for mental healthcare remain insufficient and unevenly distributed. The Chinese central government has taken many measures to address this issue over the last decade. This study aimed to evaluate the changes in equity in mental health bed allocation from 2011 to 2020.MethodsThe data of this study came from the China Health Statistical Yearbook (2012–2021) and the China National Administrative Division Information Platform. The annual growth rate was used to evaluate the time trends of mental health beds. The Lorenz curve, Gini coefficient and Theil index were used to assess equity in the demographic and geographical dimensions. The distribution of mental health beds was visualized on a map using geographic information system (GIS) software.ResultsThe total number of mental health beds in China increased steadily from 2011 to 2020. At the national level, the Gini coefficient and Theil index all exhibited downward trends over time. The mental health bed allocation in terms of the demographic dimension was relatively equitable, with Gini values all less than 0.3; however, the Gini coefficients by geographical area were all more than 0.6, indicating inequity. Intraregional contribution rates were higher than interregional contribution rates, which were all above 60%.ConclusionThe overall distribution equity of mental health beds improved from 2011 to 2020. The equity of mental health beds in terms of population size is superior to that in terms of geographical area. Intraregional differences are the main source of inequity. In particular, differences within the western region need to be given attention. Thus, the findings from this study emphasize that the demographic and geographical distributions and all influencing factors should be considered when the government makes mental health resource allocation policies.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2022

【 图 表 】

Fig. 2