Impacts of the new medical reform on the equity of women's gynecological examination service utilization: Taking Shaanxi Province as an example / 西安交通大学学报(医学版)

ABSTRACT

Objective: To study the impacts of the new medical reform on the utilization equity of gynecological examination services for women in economically underdeveloped regions of western China. Methods: Based on the data of the 4th and 5th National Health Service Survey in Shaanxi Province, we used concentration index and decomposition of concentration index to explore the inequality of women's gynecological examination service utilization and its sources; we also used horizontal inequity index to analyze the horizontal equity of the women's gynecological examination service utilization. Results: The concentration index of gynecological examination rate of the women surveyed in 2008 and 2013 was 0.0882 and 0.0640, respectively. The horizontal inequity index was 0.0894 and 0.0463, respectively. The factors that contributed most to the inequality of the women's gynecological examination service utilization were the economic level and contribution which accounted for 54.49% and 61.86%, respectively. Conclusion: The implementation of basic public health and major public health services in the new medical reform policy has increased women's gynecological examinations rate and plays a positive role in improving the equity in utilization of women's gynecological examination services.