Trends of and factors associated with access to residential toilets among the middle-aged and elderly in rural China from 2011 to 2018

Sanitation is of vital importance for health maintenance. However, approximately 2 billion people globally still lack basic sanitation facilities. Of these 2 billion, 70% live in rural areas [1]. Deprivation of proper sanitation facilities may result in the spread of many infectious diseases. The world has missed the Millennium Development Goal target of halving the proportion of people without sustainable access to sanitation by 2015. In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly set up the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). One of these goals was to ensure access to sanitation for all by 2030. Most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are taking special efforts [1, 2] to achieve this specific SDG target.

As one of the largest LMICs, China has long been devoted to sanitation improvement. Since the 1950s, the Chinese government, aiming to promote environmental health in rural areas, has paid great attention to toilet provision, regarding it as one of the most important sanitation facilities [3]. From 1978 to 2002, China set the goal related with the toilet coverage in rural areas and included toilet improvement in the national economic and social development plans. From 2003 to 2012, the government further promoted toilet reforms in rural areas and made toilet improvement one of the important targets of rural reform and development. From 2009 to 2011, China implemented a new round of healthcare reforms and promoted toilet improvement in rural areas as a major public health service project. Since 2013, the country has entered a new era of comprehensively implementing and deepening toilet reforms in rural areas. The National Environmental Sanitation Action Plan (2015–2020) set the following goals for sanitary toilet coverage: 75% by 2015, 85% by 2020, and 100% by 2030. In 2015, President Xi Jinping explicitly proposed that a “toilet revolution” should take place in rural China in order to provide the entire rural population with access to sanitary toilets [4]. In the last two decades, China has made progress on toilet provision. According to the estimates from National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China, between 2000 to 2017 the coverage of sanitary toilets in rural China increased from 40.3% to 81.8% [5].

In parallel with global and country-level sanitation initiatives, access to sanitation has generated heated discussion in the academic community. Systematic studies on access to sanitation are of key importance for policy makers to design effective interventions for a targeted population. Globally, most studies on sanitation were based in LMICs. A large number of these studies focused on the effect of access to sanitation on health inequities [6‐8], or on the occurrence and disease burden of some infectious diseases [9‐11], or on other social indicators of development (e.g. student enrollment, educational efficiency, and violence against women) [12‐14]. Another large number of these studies were centered on factors associated with or inequality in access to sanitation, with most of them using cross-sectional data. And these studies showed that socially disadvantaged groups (those with lower income and education, etc.) were more likely to suffer from no or poor access to sanitation [15‐24]. A small number of such studies relied on longitudinal data with special focus on trends of access to sanitation [25‐29]. However, to our best knowledge, no studies have been conducted that systematically explore the changes of and factors associated with access to sanitation in rural China after 2013, especially after the implementation of the “toilet revolution” campaign. The existing studies using longitudinal data based in China both focused on the trends of and factors associated with access to toilet facilities before 2012 [26, 27, 29]. In addition, all the studies on access to toilet facilities based in China looked at the general population without paying special attention to the middle-aged and elderly population, a very large group of the population in a country with a severe aging crisis. This paper aims to fill the gap in this field by using the nationally representative China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) data from 2011 to 2018.

Table 1 and 2 show the characteristics of the complete sample and the sample without residential toilets. Of the whole sample, over 50% were women. The average age of the entire sample was 59.20, 60.22, 61.23, and 63.90 in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2018, respectively. Overall, the level of education among the whole sample was low, with more than 85% having a middle school education or below. As for marital status, the vast majority were married. As for water, the percentage of respondents having residential running water increased from 55% in 2011 to 77% in 2018. On average, the household size of the whole sample was 2.28, 2.28, 2.09, and 2.10 in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2018, respectively. The median of annual per capita household consumption was 7,818.80 CNY in 2011, 10,303.65 CNY in 2013, 11,548.81 CNY in 2015, and 11,576.10 CNY in 2018. Among the respondents, more than 90% had no ADL disability and around 70% reported fair or good health status. The sample in each selected province in each year is shown in Appendix Table 1.

Overall, the coverage of population without any residential toilets decreased greatly, with coverage at 29.45% (3899/13240) in 2011, 26.19% (3629/13856) in 2013, 21.63% (2792/12909) in 2015, and 23.58% (2668/11316) in 2018 among the middle-aged and elderly population in rural China. The average age of those without residential toilets was 59.91, 59.69, 62.19, and 64.52 in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2018, respectively. Chi square tests revealed that age, education level, marital status, household size, annual per capita household consumption, region, having running water, self-reported health, ADLs, and region had significant associations with toilet ownership. From 2011 to 2018, the coverage of residential toilets among those aged ≥ 45 years in the rural Northeast was much lower than that in other rural regions (Table 1 and 2).

Among the samples of people with residential toilets, the coverage of flushable toilets increased steadily from 2011 to 2018, with coverage at 39.15% (3650/9323) in 2011, 45.06% (4595/10198) in 2013, 43.50% (3431/7888) in 2015, and 50.23% (3067/6106) in 2018. The coverage of toilets with seats also witnessed a similar trend, starting from 14.50% (1354/9341) in 2011, to 17.94% (1835/10227) in 2013, to 21.90% (2216/10117) in 2015, and to 29.37% (2540/8648) in 2018.

Table 3 and 4 show the results of logistic regression for access to toilets, flushable toilets, and toilets with seats in the residence. The multicollinearity test found that the Variance Inflation Factor in all logit models was below 1.2. That means our logit models did not have multicollinearity. We found that being female, higher level of education, having residential running water, higher annual per capita household consumption, larger household size, and better health status were significantly associated with an increased likelihood of residential toilet ownership. Compared with those from the East, respondents from the Northeast were less likely to own residential toilets. And compared with those from the East, those from the West were more likely to own toilets in 2011, but were less likely to have toilets in 2018. In addition, we revealed that having residential running water, higher annual per capita household consumption, and larger household size were positively significantly associated with the likelihood of access to flushable toilets and toilets with seats. Compared with those from the Eastern region, those from other rural regions of China were less likely to have toilets with seats, and those from Northeastern and Central China were less likely to possess flushable toilets. Compared with those with good health, those with fair and poor health were less likely to own toilets with seats. We also found that those with ADL disability were less likely to own flushable toilets and the married were less likely to own toilets with seats.

This study made an important contribution to the existing research, as it is one of the few studies focusing on trends of and factors associated with residential toilet access in rural China in recent years. Our results showed that from 2011 to 2018 the proportion of people aged ≥ 45 years in rural China without residential toilet access dropped by about 6%. This result is similar to previous studies showing that in rural areas both the coverage of sanitary toilets and the equity in sanitation rose from 2008 to 2013 [26, 27, 29]. And our result is also in line with both the estimates of sanitary toilet coverage in rural China from National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China (81.8%) [5] and coverage figures of at least basic sanitation services in rural China from the World Health Organization (76%) in 2017. The progress in sanitation improvement in rural China is largely due to the series of initiatives taken by the government. Since 2009, the government has increased remarkably its central investment to sanitation improvement every year [27]. However, there is still a gap between the current coverage of toilets in rural areas identified in this study and the goal set in the National Environmental Sanitation Action Plan (2015–2020), i.e. the coverage of sanitary toilets would reach 85% by 2020 and 100% by 2030. Considering the gap between the current levels of toilet ownership and the goals, special efforts are still needed to improve sanitation in rural China further.

We also found that the coverage of flushable toilets and toilets with seats rose substantially from 2011 to 2018 among the middle-aged and elderly population in rural China, which indicates that the quality of residential toilets in rural China have improved significantly. Making toilets flushable is not one of the fundamental goals of the toilet revolution in China [4], since some parts of rural China lack water. However, flushable toilets are valuable and convenient for the elderly. So are toilets with seats. Therefore, more and more middle-aged and elderly people choose to use flushable toilets and toilets with seats in rural China.

This study further identified the factors associated with access to toilets, flushable toilets, and toilets with seats in the residence. We found that in 2018 the odds for owners of residential toilets without education were 21.3% lower than the odds for owners of residential toilets with a high school or higher education. This is consistent with findings in one province in rural China, Vietnam, and East Africa showing that less-educated families were less likely to access toilets [22, 24, 28]. Meanwhile, we found that the odds for females owning residential toilets were about 11% higher than the odds for males in 2011 and 2018. Studies have shown that in rural settings having one’s own toilet results in greater protection of women’s privacy [33]. Therefore, women have a high willingness to construct residential toilets. In line with quantitative studies in rural Indonesia showing that having access to water throughout the year significantly influenced toilet ownership [23], this study proved that having running water was positively associated with owning toilets, flushable toilets, and toilets with seats in the residence. We suggest that the government should strengthen water improvement together with toilet renovation in order to comprehensively enhance the health of rural residents.

In addition, we revealed that compared with residents from the rural East, residents from the Northeast were less likely to have residential toilets from 2011 to 2018. And compared with residents from the rural East, residents from the rural West were more likely to own toilets in 2011, but were less likely to have toilets in 2018. The coverage ranking of residential toilets among the four regions from 2011 to 2018 is similar to the coverage ranking of harmless residential toilets reported in China Environmental Statistics Yearbook. In 2011 the coverage of harmless sanitary toilets in rural Eastern, Central, Western, and Northeastern China stood at 35.35%, 42.27%, 41.36%, and 17.93%, respectively [34]. In 2017 the coverage of harmless sanitary toilets in rural Eastern, Central, Western, and Northeastern China stood at 83.04%, 52.99%, 56.00%, and 30.69%, respectively [35]. The high coverage of residential toilets among the middle-aged and elderly and the high coverage of harmless sanitary toilets among the general population in 2011 in rural Western and Central China might be because during the 3-year health reform program from 2009 to 2011 central investments for sanitation improvement had been concentrated more on these regions [27]. When comparing the data in this study with the data from China Environmental Statistics Yearbook, one needs to bear in mind that our study focused on residential toilets among the population aged ≥ 45 years, whereas China Environmental Statistics Yearbook focused on harmless sanitary toilets among the general population. This study also found that compared with residents from the rural East, residents from other rural regions of China were less likely to have toilets with seats, and those from Northeastern and Central China were less likely to possess flushable toilets. In general, the economic development level of eastern China is higher than that of other regions of China. Residents from the rural East on average have more resources to invest in constructing flushable toilets and toilets with seats, which cost more than general toilets. Further in-depth analysis of regional differences in toilet improvement in China is still needed.

Interestingly, we demonstrated that the smaller the household size, the lower the probability of possessing toilets, flushable toilets, and toilets with seats in the residence. This is in agreement with findings from East Africa showing that smaller families were prone to have no toilets [22]. Moreover, in line with previous studies [21, 24, 25, 28], our study identified that those members of the population aged ≥ 45 years with higher annual per capita household consumption were more likely to own toilets, flushable toilets, and toilets with seats in the residence in rural China. This could be explained by the fact that families with higher household socioeconomic status could afford the economic costs of toilet construction and renovation, so they are more likely to invest in sanitation improvement.

In addition, this study revealed that those in the population aged ≥ 45 years with a poorer health status were associated with a decreased likelihood of owning toilets and toilets with seats in the residence in rural China. This finding is consistent with that of a previous study finding that adults with better health status were more likely to live in a clean environment with good sanitation facilities [36]. We also uncovered that the odds for people with ADL disability having flushable toilets were 37.7% lower than the odds for those without ADL disability. The above results are worrisome. Deprivation of toilets, flushable toilets, and toilets with seats in the residence may make the elderly with poorer health status and ADL disability face more health risks, and possibly further increasing their vulnerabilities and health deterioration.

This study found that the coverage of residential toilets in rural China among people aged ≥ 45 increased from 2011 to 2018. A similar trend was observed for the coverage of both flushable toilets and toilets with seats. We also identified the subgroups who were more likely to be deprived of residential toilets, defined by being male, lower levels of education, lower annual per capita household consumption, without running water in the residence, smaller household size, and poorer health status. We suggest to the government that in order to ensure universal coverage of sanitation facilities for the whole of the Chinese population, these subgroups should be the targeted population when designing further toilet improvement interventions in rural China.