The impact of chronic diseases and primary care access on health status among elderly populations in rural China

Objective: This study aimed to examine the patterns of chronic conditions and the role of primary care access on health status among rural elderly.Methods 6451 elderly aged ≥ 60 years from 5540 households in 116 villages in western rural areas of China were randomly selected and assessed the their health status using the EQ-5D-3L instrument. EQ-5D descriptive system and visual analogue scale (VAS) score were descriptive analyses by patterns of chronic conditions. We identified the impact of multimorbidity and primary care access on health status using multilevel linear model.Results 55% of the pooled sample reported at least one chronic condition, and 30.2% had more than one. Hypertension, rheumatoid arthritis and chronic bronchitis were the most frequently reported conditions. After adjustment for sociodemographic status and patterns of chronic conditions, primary care access significantly associated with health status for the elderly in late life.Conclusion Primary care access and health services should take priority action for rural elderly, especially elderly with multimobidity in lower household income, living in mountainous areas where distance to township hospital is long.