Impact of Public Health Education on Healthcare-Seeking Behavior among Migrant workers: Evidence from China

Objectives: Public health education (PHE) effectively improves migrant workers' healthcare-seeking behavior (HSB). This study aims to explore the association between PHE and HSB. Methods: This study leverages data from the 2017 China Migrant Dynamic Survey (CMDS) to employing the Probit model and Propensity Score Matching method. Results: (1) PHE can significantly contribute to migrant workers’ attitudes(β=0.019, p<0.01), preferred primary(β=0.033, p<0.01), and local medical institutions (β=0.008, p<0.05); (2) Mechanism testing confirms that PHE influences the healthcare attitude (β=0.064, p<0.01; Z=5.627, p<0.01) and prioritizing primary medical institution (β=0.150, p<0.01; Z=8.526, p<0.01) of migrant workers through health literacy; (3) Regarding healthcare attitudes and preferences for primary medical institutions, New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NRCMS) shows a positive moderating effect (β=0.008, p<0.01), whereas BMISUE has a contrary (β=-0.007, p<0.01; β=-0.025, p<0.01). Conclusion: The research indicates that PHE positively impacts migrant workers' healthcare attitudes and is associated with an increased likelihood of using primary and local medical institutions. PHE can influence HSB by enhancing health literacy. As different schemes in China's medical insurance system, NRCMS and BMISUE can both regulate the improvement effect of PHE on migrant workers' HSB.