Academic Journal
The willingness to pay for online medical consultation services and the associated factors in China: A national cross-sectional study.
| Τίτλος: | The willingness to pay for online medical consultation services and the associated factors in China: A national cross-sectional study. |
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| Συγγραφείς: | Dong S; Department of Infectious Diseases and Public Health, Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.; Department of Pharmacy, Peking UniversityThird Hospital, Beijing, China., Luan Q; School of Public Health, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China., Zhou Y; Department of Infectious Diseases and Public Health, Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China., Wu Y; School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, China., Ming WK; Department of Infectious Diseases and Public Health, Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. |
| Πηγή: | Digital health [Digit Health] 2026 Jun 18; Vol. 12, pp. 20552076261461397. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Jun 18 (Print Publication: 2026). |
| Τύπος έκδοσης: | Journal Article |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Στοιχεία περιοδικού: | Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 101690863 Publication Model: eCollection Cited Medium: Print ISSN: 2055-2076 (Print) Linking ISSN: 20552076 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Digit Health Subsets: PubMed not MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Original Publication: [Thousand Oaks, CA] : SAGE Publications Ltd, [2015]- |
| Περίληψη: | Background: Online medical consultation is growing in China, yet public willingness to pay and influencing factors are not fully understood. Objective: To evaluate the public willingness to pay for online medical consultation, and explore associated sociodemographic, health, and behavioral factors. Methods: This was a population-based cross-sectional study in China. We used a 100-point Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) to assess willingness to pay for online medical consultation. Informed by Andersen's Behavioral Model, we assessed: a) predisposing factors: gender, age, place of residence, education level, region, monthly per capita household income, occupation status, occupation type, marital status, presence of children, living with parents, living alone, depressive disorders, anxiety, and self-efficacy; b) enabling factors: current use of traditional Chinese medicine, vaccination status, medication literacy, and eHealth literacy; and c) need factors: the presence of chronic disease. Stepwise regression identified factors associated with willingness to pay, with subgroup analysis by chronic disease status. Results: Public willingness to pay for online medical consultation was moderate, with a mean score of 49.82±28.59. Adults in east China (B= -1.90, P< 0.001), who lived with their parents (B= -0.86, P= 0.03), with mild anxiety (B= -1.27, P= 0.002), or with mild depression (B= -1.41, P< 0.001) were associated with a lower willingness to pay for such services. However, adults with medical-related occupations (B= 5.25, P< 0.001), with undergraduate or college degree or above (B= 1.85, P< 0.001), with monthly per capita household income > 3,000 RMB (B= 5.09, P< 0.001), who currently used traditional Chinese medicine (B= 1.72, P< 0.001), who were vaccinated (B= 3.29, P< 0.001), with chronic diseases (B= 1.64, P< 0.001), with high medication literacy (B= 2.64, P< 0.001), with high eHealth literacy (B= 11.45, P< 0.001), with high self-efficacy (B= 3.57, P< 0.001) had a higher willingness to pay for such services. Subgroup analysis revealed variations by chronic disease status. Conclusions: Chinese adults show moderate willingness to pay for online medical consultation, influenced by diverse factors. Tailored policies should address subgroup disparities and accessibility. (© The Author(s) 2026.) |
| Competing Interests: | The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. |
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| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: consultation service; cross-sectional study; medical; online; willingness to pay |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260626 Date Completed: 20260626 Latest Revision: 20260813 |
| Update Code: | 20260814 |
| PubMed Central ID: | PMC13291448 |
| DOI: | 10.1177/20552076261461397 |
| PMID: | 42358863 |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 2055-2076 |
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| DOI: | 10.1177/20552076261461397 |