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Public sports services crucially determine the transformation of China into a robust sports country. The enhancement of public sports service efficiency fundamentally manifests its high-quality development. We utilize the data of 30 provinces in China in 2020 as the research object, and we apply data envelope analysis (DEA) to measure and evaluate the efficiency level of China's public sports services as well as Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) to identify the critical influencing factors; moreover, we explore the grouping pathways that affect the efficiency improvement of public sports services. The results of the study indicate the following: (1) Although the efficiency of public sports services in China is high, regional differences are apparent. (2) GDP per capita, government support, and years of education are the key factors for efficiency improvement. (3) Population-government-led, economic-resource input, and economic-educational dual-drive are the core pathways for enhancing efficiency. Therefore, the following recommendations are made: boosting the efficiency of China's public sports services by focusing on the level of regional economic development and rationally allocating public sports resources; increasing the investment of public sports funds to enhance the quality and level of services; strengthening the government's purchasing efforts to promote the market-based operation of public sports services; and increasing the average years of education to strengthen the public's awareness and participation in sports. This study integrates Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) for efficiency assessment and fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) for causal analysis in public sports services, effectively addressing the limitations of single-method approaches. Thus, the scope of research is broadened, and a novel perspective is offered. DEA highlights efficiency disparities within Chinese public sports services, whereas the input-output system enhances the accuracy of evaluations. FsQCA identifies key drivers, inhibitors, and contextual combinations that assist policymakers. Overall, this study enriches theoretical understanding and provides practical guidance, facilitating high-quality development and addressing diverse sports demands., Competing Interests: Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethics declarations: This study did not involve human or animal subjects; thus, no ethical approval was required., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

There is no clear explanation for the extraordinary rebound in China's population mortality over the past decade. This paper utilizes panel data from 31 Chinese provinces from 2010 to 2020 to determine the distinct impacts of public sports services (PSS), public health services (PMS), and their interaction on population mortality. Empirical results show that public sports services significantly reduce mortality. Every unit increase in public sports services reduces mortality by about 2.3%. It is characterized by delayed realization. Public health services were surprisingly associated with a rebound in mortality. Further studies found strong health effect from interaction of public sports and health services. The effect was significantly strengthened in areas with fewer extreme temperatures or developed economy. The findings have important policy implications for the high-quality development of public sports and health services. It also emphasizes integration of sports and medicine and mitigates health risks associated with extreme temperatures., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Cao, Cai, Gong, Bao, Hu and Tang.)

It is generally believed that sports play an important role in healing and boosting mental health. The provision of public sports services is important for enhancing residents' physical fitness and mental health, and for promoting their satisfaction with government public services. To build and strengthen a high-quality sports service-oriented society, it is important to explore whether community public sports services influence residents' mental health. To explore this phenomenon, the study gathered data from China and employed multi-level regression models to meet the study objective. The results show that the residents' age difference is 0.03, and the average daily exercise time is 0.02, which is significantly correlated with residents' mental health. The results show that the lower the availability and greening of sports facilities, and the fewer rest facilities there are, the higher the mental distress of residents may be. Conversely, the improvement of the greening and availability of sports facilities can facilitate the promotion of residents' mental health levels. Moreover, it was found that the mental health of residents is mainly and positively affected by the cleanliness of sports facilities. The street environment affects mental health and is attributed to the damage to sports facilities. Neighborhood communication also improves residents' mental health, and trust between neighbors has the greatest impact on reducing mental distress. Finally, the study proposes that the government should propose strategies to optimize the provision of community public sports services in the study area to boost both social and mental health benefits.