Compliance with referrals for non-acute child health conditions: evidence from the longitudinal ASENZE study in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa

Table 2 Association between referral compliance with referral characteristics and socio-demographic factors (N = 303)

Covariate	Completed/total referrals (N)^a	Referral compliance (%)	Crude OR	95% CI
Overall	135/303	44.6
Demographics
Child age at time of referral				0.83-2.12
≥5 years	67/160	41.9	Ref
<5 years	62/127	48.8	1.32
Child gender				0.94-2.33
Female	62/155	40.0	Ref
Male	73/147	49.7	1.48
Caregiver age				1.05-2.77
≥40 years	41/115	35.7	Ref
<40 years	84/173	48.6	1.70*
Type of primary caregiver				0.63-1.66
Birth mother	88/196	44.9	Ref
Other family member	45/99	45.5	1.02
Household wealth status^c				0.29-1.07
Richest 20%	37/65	56.9	Ref	0.29-0.93
Middle 40%	36/85	42.4	0.56
Poorest 40%	62/152	40.8	0.52*
Highest educational attainment of any member				2.02-11.88
≤Secondary School	90/224	40.2	Ref
>Secondary School	23/30	76.7	4.89***
Same caregiver in both Phase 1 and Phase 2 assessments				1.85-8.65
No	9/45	20.0	Ref
Yes	125/250	50.0	4.00***
Primary referral problem			N/A^b	N/A^b
Mild anemia	25/41	61.0
Hearing or ear problem	35/68	51.5
Vision problem	18/36	50.0
Problem requiring occupational, speech or physical therapy	1/2	50.0
Behavioral problems	0/7	0.0
HIV	12/20	60.0
Developmental delay	7/14	50.0
Dental problem	4/11	36.4
Other	32/102	31.4
Referral facility type (level of care provided)			N/A^b	N/A^b
Local health clinic (primary)	70/128	54.7
Community health center (primary)	2/4	50.0
District hospital (secondary)	2/3	66.7
Regional hospital (tertiary)	54/96	56.3
Other	3/6	50.0

^aFor each bivariate association, denominators may vary because of missing data.
^bNot applicable for chi-square tests due to low expected counts in at least one category.
*p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001.
^c% of overall study sample (all 1581 children who completed phase 1 assessment).

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