Primary healthcare quality Not Applicable
Conditions
Interventions
Within each cluster, sample primary healthcare providers and sample rural residents were randomly selected by computer software. We combined stratified randomization at the county level with clustered
Sponsors
Shaanxi Normal University
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria: Primary healthcare providers: 1. Aged 18 years old and over 2. Male or female 3. Employed as doctors who were practicing Western medicine in village clinics and township health centers in the study area Rural residents who were invited to take household surveys: 1. Aged 18 years old and over 2. Male or female 3. Permanent residents in villages in the study area
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria: 1. Primary healthcare providers who were only practicing traditional Chinese medicine 2. Rural residents who were unable to take the survey because of cognitive dysfunction or were temporarily living in the surveyed village
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| 1. Clinical knowledge of primary healthcare providers measured using the Vignettes Method and Structural Questionnaire Test within three months after the training program ended Each primary healthcare provider in the sample was administered Vignettes presenting three disease cases: asthma, unstable angina, and child diarrhea. The analysis will focus on process quality, the correctness of diagnoses, and the appropriateness of treatment, which will all be evaluated by experts. A series of ten test items related to common diseases were adopted in a structural questionnaire. The test scores will be calculated based on the number of correctly answered test items, which will also be evaluated by experts. 2. Clinical practice of primary healthcare providers measured using the Standardized Patients Method within three months after the training program ended Unannounced standardized patients (hereafter, “SPs”) were used to assess the clinical practice of primary healthcare providers. We chose three cases presented by Standardized Patients: asthma, unstable angina, and child diarrhea. In principle, each primary healthcare provider received 0 to 2 cases of SP visits based on predetermined rules. The analysis will focus on process quality, the correctness of diagnoses, the appropriateness of treatment, and consultation length, which will all be evaluated by experts. | — |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| All outcomes are measured within three months after the training program ended: 1. Patient satisfaction with primary healthcare providers is reported by unannounced standardized patients and sample rural residents using the patient experience questionnaire 2. Utilization of primary medical services collected from sample rural residents measured by the frequency of their visits to primary health facilities. Patient load was measured by the number of patient visits reported by sample primary healthcare providers. 3. Health behavior of sample primary healthcare providers collected from sample rural residents measured by how often primary health providers offer chronic disease management services 4. Health behavior and knowledge of residents reported by sample rural residents measured by their medication adherence and self-monitoring of chronic diseases. Health knowledge of residents was measured by a series of test items on chronic diseases. | — |
Countries
China
Outcome results
None listed