Table 1 Characteristics of the sample township communities and township health centres (THCs) from 2013 to 2017
THCs in neighboring towns (n = 175) | THCs in remote towns (n = 144) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | 2017 | Change | 2013 | 2017 | Change | ||
Communities | |||||||
Population size | 36,187 | 35,422 | -2.11% | 22,727 | 21,359 | -6.02% | |
Ratio of population in built-up area (%) | 20.39 | 26.23 | 28.64% | 17.30 | 26.90 | 55.49% | |
Ratio of population aged over 65 (%) | 10.88 | 11.4 | 4.78% | 10.79 | 12.35 | 14.46% | |
Township health centres | |||||||
Number of medical equipment | 13 | 18 | 38.46% | 9 | 12 | 33.33% | |
Number of doctors | 20 | 22 | 10.00% | 11 | 13 | 18.18% | |
Number of medical technicians | 2 | 3 | 50.00% | 2 | 2 | 0.00% | |
Annual volume of outpatient and emergency visits | 36,258 | 38,710 | 6.76% | 22,776 | 25,684 | 12.77% | |