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Utilization of Health Services and Health-Related Quality of Life Research of Rural-to-Urban Migrants in China: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

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Abstract

The number of China’s rural-to-urban migrants is increasing rapidly. Numerous rural-to-urban migrants have poor working and living conditions and lack local social security and support, so they are often faced with high public health risk, which is closely related to their health problems. In this study, we use the SF-36 scale to explore the rural-to-urban migrant health of Wuhan City. Gender, marital status, age, and residence register are the control variables. The different ways in dealing with their sickness, medical health service from companies for injuries, and selective tendency to medical institutions are three independent variables. We use descriptive statistical and regression analysis methods (ordinal logistics and stereotype ordinal) to explore the utilization of health services of rural-to-urban migrants and its effect on health-related quality of life (HRQOL). The score of the SF-36 Table shows that whether or not the companies provide medical care for injuries on the job has a very significant effect on the quality of life in the eight dimensions. The rural-to-urban migrants who see a doctor when they are sick have higher quality of life than those who do not; those who select city or county hospitals have higher quality of life than those who select primary hospitals. The costs and time consumed by medical treatment mainly affect their choice on whether or not they will seek medical attention and/or hospitals when they are sick. To a considerable extent, the utilization of health services remarkably affects HRQOL of rural-to-urban migrants. The quality of life on the SF-36 scale does not reflect the particularity of rural-to-urban migrants on health status and needs. However, based on further analysis of the data, improving the utilization and accessibility of health services for rural-to-urban migrants can guarantee their healthy life.

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Acknowledgments

This paper is supported by the General Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China (71173099), the Youth Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China (70903002) and the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (NCET-11-0228). The authors would also like to thank Peiyi Lu (Sun Yat-sen University) and Wanyi Lu (Nanjing University) for their contributions to this study.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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  1. Department of Social Work and Social Policy, School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210013, People’s Republic of China

    Ying Liang

  2. Institute for Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, People’s Republic of China

    Minglei Guo

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Liang, Y., Guo, M. Utilization of Health Services and Health-Related Quality of Life Research of Rural-to-Urban Migrants in China: A Cross-Sectional Analysis. Soc Indic Res 120, 277–295 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-014-0585-y

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