223683 Compare the mortality of respiratory disease between urban and rural areas in China: A retrospective study

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Tao Li, MD , Department of Health Services Research and Administration, College of Public Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE
  
Background: Respiratory disease has been the fourth-leading cause of death (standardized mortality around 80/100,000) in urban areas and the first-leading cause of death (standardized mortality around 150/100,000) in rural areas in China for 20 years. My study discusses the significant healthcare disparities between urban and rural areas and between males and females, through analyzing the mortality of respiratory disease from 1990 to 2008. Methods: I used retrospective methods in this study. I compared the mortality of respiratory disease for male and female residents in urban and rural areas in China from 1990 to 2008, respectively. Data were collected from the authorized database of the Ministry of Health of China. I used paired t-test statistical methods in PASW Statistics 18 software. Results: The total mortality of respiratory disease significantly differs between rural and urban areas (22.90% vs 13.84%, p=.001). There are also significantly different mortalities for male and female residents between rural and urban areas, respectively (21.29% vs 13.50%, p=.002; 24.70% v.s.14.25%, p<.001). The difference is significant between males and females in rural areas (21.29% vs 24.70%, p<.001), while it is not significant in urban areas (p=.18).Conclusions: There is significant disparity between urban and rural areas in China. Rural residents are almost twice as likely to die as urban residents when they get respiratory diseases. The mortality of respiratory disease for males and females in rural areas are significantly different from those in urban areas, respectively.The significant disparities also exist between males and females in rural area.

Learning Areas:
Clinical medicine applied in public health
Public health administration or related administration
Public health or related organizational policy, standards, or other guidelines
Public health or related public policy
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
In this study, I compared the mortality of respiratory disease for male and female residents in urban and rural areas in China from 1990 to 2008, respectively. All data were collected from authorized database of the Ministry of Health of China, so the data and conclusion were intact and convincing. Significant differences were discussed between urban and rural areas, and between males and females. Since my study provides a complete picture of one particular disease for 20 years, participants will definitely acquire a useful and operational knowledge of this long-standing and tenacious disparity in developing countries like China. It will be very helpful for public health professionals, especially those who focus on rural health issues and policy in the America, to draw inspiration from my study through comparing with the rural concerns in other countries.

Keywords: Health Disparities, Developing Countries

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am qualified to be an abstract Author on the content I am responsible for because I have education background in clinical medicine and public health, and I am familiar with healthcare disparity between urban and rural areas in China
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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