Is low cost really conducive to primary care utilisation: An empirical analysis of community health centers in China

Despite community health centers (CHCs) having many potential benefits, their utilisation rate is still low in urban China. Using the health belief model, the study conducted cross-sectional survey to examine factors that affected individuals' intentions to use primary care services in China. This study on 942 participants from Shanghai revealed that low cost had insignificant effect on the choice of CHCs once other key factors were accounted for. Older age, greater perceived susceptibility to contracting common diseases and more benefits of individualised care greatly increased the likelihood of using primary care services. Perceived low competencies of medical personnel along with outdated medical facilities had significant negative relationships with the intention of choosing CHCs. Based on these findings, some policy recommendations are proposed such as promoting education on prevalence of common diseases, recruiting qualified medical personnel, increasing professional training and cooperation, updating medical facilities, and offering high-quality individualised care in order to improve efficiency of primary care utilisation.

Automated summary

In urban China, the utilization rate of community health centers (CHCs) remains low despite their potential benefits. A study in Shanghai found that while low cost did not strongly influence the choice of CHCs, factors such as older age, perceived susceptibility to common diseases, and benefits of individualized care greatly increased the likelihood of using primary care services. Conversely, perceived low competencies of medical personnel and outdated medical facilities had significant negative relationships with the intention of choosing CHCs.