Abstract: Objective The aim of this study was to analyze the status and influencing factors of public health service utilization in rural patients with severe mental illness in Yunnan province. Methods The main caregivers of patients with severe mental illness in Yunnan province were selected by stratified cluster sampling method. Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the influencing factors of public health service utilization. Results A total of 284 cases of rural patients with severe mental illness were investigated, including144 males ( 50.7%) and 140 females ( 49.3%) . The rate of medical file filing, follow-up rate of village doctor, participation rate of free physical examination and health education acceptance rate among patients with severe mental illness were 89.8%, 84.9%, 73.2% and 56.7% respectively ( P <0.05) . Female patients had higher participation rate of free physical examination than male patients, and patients having work and patients with controlled disease condition and their caregivers had higher rates of health education acceptance rate than their counterparts ( P <0.05) . Conclusion Measures should be taken to strengthen the work of medical examination for male patients, and to expand health education activities for patients having no work and patients with uncontrolled disease condition, so as to improve the public health service utilization in rural areas of Yunnan province.