The acceptability of waiting times for elective general surgery and the appropriateness of prioritising patients

Table 7 Results from multilevel proportional odds regression analysis of the judgements on maximal waiting times for the vignettes of patients.

Independent variables	Wald χ²	OR*	95%CI
Response group	5.1 (df = 4, p = 0.281)
Patients (reference category)		-	-
Laypersons		1.10	0.99 – 1.23
Surgeons		1.11	0.77 – 1.61
Ops		2.00	1.25 – 3.22
GPs		1.32	0.72 – 2.41
Disorder	1539.3 (df = 2, p < 0.001)
Varicose veins (reference category)		-	-
Inguinal hernia		5.56	4.98 – 6.21
Gallstones		10.17	9.01 – 11.46
Physical symptoms	1275.9 (df = 2, p < 0.001)
Level = 1 (reference category)		-	-
Level = 2		1.93	1.77 – 2.09
Level = 3		6.27	5.73 – 6.86
Psychological distress	114.9 (df = 2, p < 0.001)
Level = 1 (reference category)		-	-
Level = 2		1.53	1.39 – 1.69
Level = 3		1.65	1.50 – 1.82
Social limitations	276.0 (df = 2, p < 0.001)
Level = 1 (reference category)		-	-
Level = 2		1.54	1.40 – 1.70
Level = 3		2.31	2.08 – 2.56
Impairments in work	1532.8 (df = 2, p < 0.001)
Level = 1 (reference category)		-	-
Level = 2		3.79	3.47 – 4.15
Level = 3		7.67	6.97 – 8.44
Attitude towards the acceptability of waiting lists in health care	34.4 (df = 1, p < 0.001)
Scale score**		0.54	0.45 – 0.66
Maximally acceptable waiting time	Threshold
≤ 2 weeks	-7.71
≤ 5 weeks	-5.59
≤ 7 weeks	-4.18
≤ 10 weeks	-2.65
≤ 20 weeks	-0.53
> 20 weeks (reference category)	-

*Cumulative odds ratios; odds ratios > 1 indicate a higher probability of assigning a response category involving shorter maximal acceptable waiting times for a vignette.
**A scale score of zero indicates a neutral attitude; positive scores indicate a positive attitude towards waiting lists in health care.

ISSN: 1472-6963