Distance decay and persistent health care disparities in South Africa

Table 2 Health seeking behavior and health characteristics among adults aged 18 years and older and children aged 5 years and under

	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	(6)
	Black African		Coloured		White
	N	Mean	N	Mean	N	Mean
Adults aged 18 and older:
Health consultation in last year	9533	0.441	1838	0.621***	701	0.598***
Used private doctor or facility	4379	0.335	1143	0.464***	452	0.806***
Covered by medical insurance	9797	0.078	1896	0.161***	705	0.677***
Self-reports poor or fair health	9792	0.210	1901	0.219	709	0.130***
Obese (measured)	8543	0.262	1564	0.305***	494	0.344***
Measured hypertension	9053	0.323	1687	0.459***	540	0.443***
Aware of hypertension	3356	0.378	846	0.428**	276	0.526***
Children aged 5 and under:
Skilled attendant at birth	2559	0.546	381	0.734***	63	0.981***

Authors’ calculation using NIDS and health facility data and post-stratification weights. The sample of adults aged 18 years and older excludes the small minority (8%) of individuals who moved recently (since 2006). The sample of children aged 5 years and younger excludes the small minority (10%) of children who have moved since they were born. Asterisks in columns 4 and 6 indicate whether Black African means are statistically significantly different from Coloured and White means respectively at the 1% (***) and 5% (**) level.

ISSN: 1472-6963