Health Literacy and Hepatitis B Treatment in China
Author Information
Author(s): Hanchao Cheng, Shiyang Liu, Zhitao Wang, Qiyou Wu, Xin Wang, Polin Chan, Zhongdan Chen, Simon Luo, Yinghua Li, Jing Sun
Primary Institution: Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College
Hypothesis
Improved health literacy contributes to the scale-up of antiviral treatment of Hepatitis B in China.
Conclusion
Improved health literacy is crucial for increasing the treatment rate of Hepatitis B in China.
Supporting Evidence
- Health literacy in China increased from 9.5% to 23.2% from 2013 to 2020.
- Each 1% increase in health literacy was associated with a 7.15% increase in Hepatitis B treatments.
- Only 19% of people infected with Hepatitis B in China have been diagnosed.
Takeaway
If people understand health better, they can get treated for Hepatitis B more easily.
Methodology
The study used two-stage least squares regression with mobile phone penetration as an instrumental variable to analyze data from 31 provinces from 2013 to 2020.
Potential Biases
Potential biases due to unobserved factors affecting both health literacy and treatment rates.
Limitations
The study only included data from hospitals with more than 100 beds and did not account for individual-level data.
Participant Demographics
Residents aged 15 to 69 years across 31 provinces in China.
Statistical Information
P-Value
p<0.001
Statistical Significance
p<0.001
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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