Article type
Year
Abstract
Background:
The Cochrane Consumer Network (CCNet) has always referred to its members as 'consumers' who are patients, family members, and patient advocates. However, little is known about how the term 'Cochrane consumer' is understood by people in non-English speaking countries.
Objectives:
To investigate the number, coverage and application of term 'consumer' in China and to see whether the use of 'consumer' in healthcare content matches the CCNet consumer definition.
Methods:
We searched four main Chinese databases including CBM, VIP, CNKI and WanFang using the search term 'consumer', 'health care' etc. from 1977 to March 2014. Then, we classified and analysed the searching results into different sections.
Results:
A total of 557,301 articles were associated with the term 'consumer'; 326,750 (65%) articles referred to economic consumers while 937(0.2%) related to healthcare of which 196 were health economics consumers, 186 were health policy consumers, 147 were pharmacy consumers and 144 were preventive medicine consumers. The number of articles increased from 2005 to 2008, with 57, 58, 90 and 94 respectively. However, the term ‘consumer’ in the above had nothing to do with the CCNet consumer definition. Only 28 (2%) medical articles referred ‘consumer’ to ‘patient’. Of 28 medical articles, 25% was about nursing care, and 21% was about doctor-patient relationship.
Conclusions:
There has been a considerable debate within Cochrane about a preferred label for people receiving healthcare, and there is no size shoe that matches all internationally. Very few articles in China indicate that ‘consumer’ used in a healthcare context matches the CCNet definition. 'Consumer' in China mostly means that “one purchases some commodity or service”. Consequently, there is a great potential challenge about how exactly to interpret 'Cochrane consumer' in the Chinese context.
The Cochrane Consumer Network (CCNet) has always referred to its members as 'consumers' who are patients, family members, and patient advocates. However, little is known about how the term 'Cochrane consumer' is understood by people in non-English speaking countries.
Objectives:
To investigate the number, coverage and application of term 'consumer' in China and to see whether the use of 'consumer' in healthcare content matches the CCNet consumer definition.
Methods:
We searched four main Chinese databases including CBM, VIP, CNKI and WanFang using the search term 'consumer', 'health care' etc. from 1977 to March 2014. Then, we classified and analysed the searching results into different sections.
Results:
A total of 557,301 articles were associated with the term 'consumer'; 326,750 (65%) articles referred to economic consumers while 937(0.2%) related to healthcare of which 196 were health economics consumers, 186 were health policy consumers, 147 were pharmacy consumers and 144 were preventive medicine consumers. The number of articles increased from 2005 to 2008, with 57, 58, 90 and 94 respectively. However, the term ‘consumer’ in the above had nothing to do with the CCNet consumer definition. Only 28 (2%) medical articles referred ‘consumer’ to ‘patient’. Of 28 medical articles, 25% was about nursing care, and 21% was about doctor-patient relationship.
Conclusions:
There has been a considerable debate within Cochrane about a preferred label for people receiving healthcare, and there is no size shoe that matches all internationally. Very few articles in China indicate that ‘consumer’ used in a healthcare context matches the CCNet definition. 'Consumer' in China mostly means that “one purchases some commodity or service”. Consequently, there is a great potential challenge about how exactly to interpret 'Cochrane consumer' in the Chinese context.