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Table 1 Definition and descriptive statistics of independent variables

From: Adverse selection in a community-based health insurance scheme in rural Africa: Implications for introducing targeted subsidies

Variables

Definition

Percentage (%) or Mean

2004

2005

2006

2007

Average

n a

No. of individuals

2878

4360

5725

5517

-

Health Status

      

Sick

1 if sick b; 0 otherwise*

17.9

19.2

19.4

19.3

19.1

Age (years)

      

≤ 15

Age 15 years or less

45.4

42.5

40.5

38.4

41.2

16-59

Age between 16–59 years*

47.6

50.8

52.2

53.7

51.6

60+

Age 60 years or older

6.9

6.7

7.4

7.9

7.3

Education

      

Literate

1 if can read/write; 0 otherwise*

31.7

37.2

40.8

43.8

39.4

Subsidized c

      

Subsidy

1 if given subsidy in insurance premium; 0 otherwise*

-

-

-

18.3

5.3

Household size

      

Size

Number of individuals in the household

11.9

11.0

12.1

12.4

11.9

SES

      

LowSES

Household SES below 33.33th percentile*

34.0

32.1

33.4

33.3

33.1

MidSES

Household SES between 33.33th and 66.67th percentile

33.5

32.9

33.2

33.4

33.2

HighSES

Household SES above 66.67th percentile

32.5

35.0

33.3

33.3

33.6

Year

      

2004

Year 2004*

-

-

-

-

15.6

2005

Year 2005

-

-

-

-

23.6

2006

Year 2006

-

-

-

-

31.0

2007

Year 2007

-

-

-

-

29.8

  1. a Insurance was offered in a phased manner. From 2006 everyone was eligible for insurance.
  2. b Individual was considered sick if (s)he had an illness for at least 3 months at the time of the survey.
  3. c Subsidy was offered only in year 2007.
  4. * Reference category for multivariate analysis.