Work

Spatiotemporal Evolution and Drivers of Total Health Expenditure across Mainland China in Recent Years

Year: 2022

Type: article

Abstract: A substantially growing health expenditure has become an important global issue. Thus, how and why health expenditure is rising should be urgently investigated in systematic research. The Bayesian space-time model and the Bayesian least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) model were employed in this study to investigate the spatiotemporal trends and influence patterns of total health expenditure per capita (THEPC) and total health expenditure (THEE) as a share of the gross domestic product (GDP) on the Chinese mainland from 2009 to 2018. The spatial distribution of THEE as a share of GDP in mainland China has shaped a distinct geographical structure with the characteristic of 'west high/east low'. Its local increasing trends formed a geographical structure that exhibited a 'north high/south low' feature. The heterogeneity of the influence patterns of health expenditure was observed from east to west across China. Natural environmental factors, such as air pollution and green coverage, along with changes in dietary structures, have increasingly influenced the growth of health expenditures.

Source: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20010597

Authors: Junming Li, Xiulan Han

Institution: Shanxi University of Finance and Economics

Language: English

Topic: Global Health Care Issues

Subfield: General Health Professions

Field: Health Professions

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,618