Article type
Year
Abstract
Background: Time series analysis is an effective statistical means for analyzing and forecasting the trends of things, which has been effectively tried and applied in the field of public health. Interrupted time-series studies (ITSs) are usually considered as a valuable research tool for systematic reviews of health systems research.
Objectives: Based on the principles of evidence-based medicine to explore and show the evidence of time-series studies in Chinese health policy research.
Methods: Four Chinese databases (CBM, CNKI, VIP, WANFANG), four international databases (PubMed, the Cochrane Library, the Campbell Library, Web of Science) and relevant websites were searched in November 2014. The search terms were time-series, health, policy, strategy and China/Chinese. EndNote X4 and Excel were used for data description and analysis.
Results: A total of 1232 articles were retrieved; this included 45 (3.7%) time-series studies on national health policies, the first of which was published in 2002, the most recent in 2013 (11; 24.4%), with 35 ( 77.8%) articles published from 2010 to 2014. Eighteen (40.0%) were concerned with medical insurance, 10 (22.2%) with pharmaceutical policy, seven (15.6%) with hospital management, five (11.5%) wth theoretical exploration, and five (11.1%) with public health. One (2.2%) study was published in the International Journal of Medical Informatics which is included in the Science Citation Index (impact factor 2.716, in 2013), eight (17.8%) were published in the periodicals of the Chinese Science Citation Database, others (80.0%) were published in general periodicals.
Conclusions: Our research shows the evidence of interrupted time-series studies in health policy research has an increasing trend year on year in China, but there are fewer concerned with rural health, health reform, health workforce and so on. Very few studies were published in high level periodicals. Further time-series analyses for health policy research should promote and improve this.
Objectives: Based on the principles of evidence-based medicine to explore and show the evidence of time-series studies in Chinese health policy research.
Methods: Four Chinese databases (CBM, CNKI, VIP, WANFANG), four international databases (PubMed, the Cochrane Library, the Campbell Library, Web of Science) and relevant websites were searched in November 2014. The search terms were time-series, health, policy, strategy and China/Chinese. EndNote X4 and Excel were used for data description and analysis.
Results: A total of 1232 articles were retrieved; this included 45 (3.7%) time-series studies on national health policies, the first of which was published in 2002, the most recent in 2013 (11; 24.4%), with 35 ( 77.8%) articles published from 2010 to 2014. Eighteen (40.0%) were concerned with medical insurance, 10 (22.2%) with pharmaceutical policy, seven (15.6%) with hospital management, five (11.5%) wth theoretical exploration, and five (11.1%) with public health. One (2.2%) study was published in the International Journal of Medical Informatics which is included in the Science Citation Index (impact factor 2.716, in 2013), eight (17.8%) were published in the periodicals of the Chinese Science Citation Database, others (80.0%) were published in general periodicals.
Conclusions: Our research shows the evidence of interrupted time-series studies in health policy research has an increasing trend year on year in China, but there are fewer concerned with rural health, health reform, health workforce and so on. Very few studies were published in high level periodicals. Further time-series analyses for health policy research should promote and improve this.