{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,29]],"date-time":"2026-10-29T17:10:54Z","timestamp":1793293854845,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":58,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,1]],"date-time":"2026-02-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1769904000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,1]],"date-time":"2026-02-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1769904000000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["72304009"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["72304009"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"SIRG - CityU Strategic Interdisciplinary Research","award":["7020093"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["7020093"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["DIGITAL HEALTH"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,2]]},"abstract":"\n Background<\/jats:title>\n Online medical consultation is growing in China, yet public willingness to pay and influencing factors are not fully understood.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Objective<\/jats:title>\n To evaluate the public willingness to pay for online medical consultation, and explore associated sociodemographic, health, and behavioral factors.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Methods<\/jats:title>\n 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\u2019s 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.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Results<\/jats:title>\n \n Public willingness to pay for online medical consultation was moderate, with a mean score of 49.82\u00b128.59. Adults in east China (\n B<\/jats:italic>\n = -1.90,\n P<\/jats:italic>\n < 0.001), who lived with their parents (\n B<\/jats:italic>\n = -0.86,\n P<\/jats:italic>\n = 0.03), with mild anxiety (\n B<\/jats:italic>\n = -1.27,\n P<\/jats:italic>\n = 0.002), or with mild depression (\n B<\/jats:italic>\n = -1.41,\n P<\/jats:italic>\n < 0.001) were associated with a lower willingness to pay for such services. However, adults with medical-related occupations (\n B<\/jats:italic>\n = 5.25,\n P<\/jats:italic>\n < 0.001), with undergraduate or college degree or above (\n B<\/jats:italic>\n = 1.85,\n P<\/jats:italic>\n < 0.001), with monthly per capita household income > 3,000 RMB (\n B<\/jats:italic>\n = 5.09,\n P<\/jats:italic>\n < 0.001), who currently used traditional Chinese medicine (\n B<\/jats:italic>\n = 1.72,\n P<\/jats:italic>\n < 0.001), who were vaccinated (\n B<\/jats:italic>\n = 3.29,\n P<\/jats:italic>\n < 0.001), with chronic diseases (\n B<\/jats:italic>\n = 1.64,\n P<\/jats:italic>\n < 0.001), with high medication literacy (\n B<\/jats:italic>\n = 2.64,\n P<\/jats:italic>\n < 0.001), with high eHealth literacy (\n B<\/jats:italic>\n = 11.45,\n P<\/jats:italic>\n < 0.001), with high self-efficacy (\n B<\/jats:italic>\n = 3.57,\n P<\/jats:italic>\n < 0.001) had a higher willingness to pay for such services. Subgroup analysis revealed variations by chronic disease status.\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n Chinese adults show moderate willingness to pay for online medical consultation, influenced by diverse factors. Tailored policies should address subgroup disparities and accessibility.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1177\/20552076261461397","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,18]],"date-time":"2026-06-18T17:39:48Z","timestamp":1781804388000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["The willingness to pay for online medical consultation services and the associated factors in China: A national cross-sectional study"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Shujie","family":"Dong","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"City University of Hong Kong"},{"name":"Peking University"},{"name":"Third Hospital"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-3067-3008","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Qiuning","family":"Luan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The University of Hong Kong"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yuxin","family":"Zhou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"City University of Hong Kong"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yibo","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Peking University"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wai-kit","family":"Ming","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"City University of Hong Kong"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_7_2_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(20)30424-4"},{"key":"e_1_3_7_3_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2021-056601"},{"key":"e_1_3_7_4_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijmedinf.2009.06.002"},{"key":"e_1_3_7_5_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.sintl.2021.100117"},{"key":"e_1_3_7_6_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S2589-7500(22)00124-8"},{"key":"e_1_3_7_7_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/19322968221081133"},{"key":"e_1_3_7_8_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jsmc.2020.05.005"},{"key":"e_1_3_7_9_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S2468-1253(18)30359-5"},{"key":"e_1_3_7_10_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/OGX.0b013e3182219902"},{"key":"e_1_3_7_11_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijmedinf.2022.104856"},{"key":"e_1_3_7_12_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2196\/33372"},{"key":"e_1_3_7_13_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/00325481.2021.2004792"},{"key":"e_1_3_7_14_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/1357633X16674087"},{"key":"e_1_3_7_15_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1468-0009.2005.00412.x"},{"key":"e_1_3_7_16_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0045053"},{"key":"e_1_3_7_17_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2196\/45749"},{"key":"e_1_3_7_18_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.5498\/wjp.v15.i9.109789"},{"key":"e_1_3_7_19_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/10783903231197655"},{"key":"e_1_3_7_20_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.lmot.2025.102135"},{"key":"e_1_3_7_21_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2196\/14088"},{"key":"e_1_3_7_22_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s10903-023-01540-y"},{"key":"e_1_3_7_23_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s12913-016-1825-4"},{"key":"e_1_3_7_24_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cgpj.2024.07.006"},{"key":"e_1_3_7_25_2","unstructured":"National Bureau of Statistics of China. 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