title: A survey of factors associated with the utilization of community health centers for managing hypertensive patients in Chengdu, China.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  For decades the development of community health services has been emphasized in China to cope with the growing burden of chronic diseases by providing basic medical services. This survey aims at investigating factors associated with the use of Community Health Centers (CHCs) for the management of hypertensive patients in Chengdu, China.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used a systematic sampling method to select 2,030 patients with hypertension or diabetes registered in 29 CHCs in Chengdu in 2007. Researchers interviewed patients who consented to participate at their home. This paper reports findings from the survey of 1,716 hypertensive patients with completed questionnaires. Univariate analyses and multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to explore factors influencing the use of CHCs for the management of hypertensive patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  81.4% of hypertensive patients regularly used CHCs for hypertension monitoring and treatment in Chengdu. Univariate analyses indicated that use of CHCs was associated with the education level, occupation, types of medical insurance, Body Mass Index(BMI), patients' knowledge on hypertension, awareness of CHCs functions, satisfaction of the service of CHCs. Multiple regression analyses found that use of CHCs was positively associated with the following factors: the Urban Resident Basic Medical Insurance(URBMI), knowledge on blood pressure, awareness of the sites in CHCs to measure blood pressure, awareness of having to take life-long antihypertensive medicine once the treatment started, awareness of the health records registration in CHCs, regular follow up, improved convenience of seeing doctor. Patients with professional job were less likely to use the services of CHCs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The use of CHCs for hypertension management could be increased by improving residents' knowledge on the monitoring and treatment of hypertension, and the awareness of CHCs functions. The CHCs could play an important role in providing medical care to low-income, unemployed and other disadvantaged patients with hypertension.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chai
authors.forename: Hancheng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Wenxin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Dehua
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Fujian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Zuxun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044466:Asian People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002681:China; D003151:Community Health Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003153:Community Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology / Q000628:therapy*; D007348:Insurance, Health; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009790:Occupations; D012042:Registries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires