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Table 1 Sample Characteristics among patients who were hospitalized with respiratory diseasei

From: Does having a usual primary care provider reduce patient self-referrals in rural China’s rural multi-tiered medical system? A retrospective study in Qianjiang District, China

Characteristics

Participants

Non self-referralsa

Self-referralsb

P valueh

n = 832 (100%)

n = 378 (45.9%)

n = 454 (54.1%)

Gender

   

0.037

 Male

412(49.5)

172(45.5)

240(52.9)

 

 Female

420(50.5)

206(54.5)

214(47.1)

 

Age

  < 45

256(30.8)

104(25.2)

152(36.2)

<0.001

 45–65

316(37.9)

152(36.9)

164(39.0)

 

  > 65

260(31.3)

156(37.9)

104(24.8)

 

Ethnicity

 Minoritiesc

412(49.5)

328(61.2)

84(28.4)

<0.001

 Han population

420(50.5)

208(38.8)

212(71.6)

 

Census registration

 Rural

654(78.6)

332(80.6)

322(76.7)

0.177

 Urban

178(21.4)

80(19.4)

98(23.3)

 

Household net income per yeard

 Less than CNY15,000

322 (38.7)

176(42.7)

146(34.8)

<0.001

 CNY15,000-CNY30,000

292(35.1)

156(37.9)

136(32.4)

 

 CNY30,000 and above

218(26.2)

80(19.4)

138(32.9)

 

A usual primary care providere

 Yes

496 (59.6)

276 (67.0)

220(52.4)

<0.001

 No

336 (40.4)

136 (33.0)

200(47.6)

 

Disease onset in last month

 Yes

368 (44.2)

112(27.2)

256(61.0)

<0.001

 No

464 (55.8)

300(72.8)

164(39.0)

 

Disease categoryf

 Type A - ordinary acute diseases

422(50.7)

236(57.3)

186(44.3)

<0.001

 Type B - acute disease with co-morbidities

192(23.1)

40(9.7)

152(36.2)

 

 Type C - common chronic diseases without comorbidities

116(13.9)

80(19.4)

36(8.6)

 

 Type D - chronic diseases with comorbidities

102(12.3)

56(13.6)

46(11.0)

 

Patient’s status at discharge

 Others

302(36.3)

106(25.7)

196(46.7)

<0.001

 Improved

530(63.7)

306(74.3)

224(53.3)

 

Distance to the county hospital (km)

  

0.002

  < 25

264(31.7)

120(29.1)

144(34.3)

 

 25–50

394(47.4)

220(53.4)

174(41.4)

 

  > 50

174(20.9)

72(17.5)

102(24.3)

 

Capacity of township hospitalsg

 Very poor

202(24.3)

88(21.4)

114(27.1)

0.001

 Poor

102(12.3)

48(11.6)

54(12.9)

 

 Fair

204(24.5)

88(21.4)

116(27.6)

 

 Good

324 (38.9)

188(45.6)

136(32.4)

 
  1. aNon self-referrals referred to patients who received health care from primary care providers - township hospitals
  2. bSelf-referrals were defined as patients who received care from township hospitals, and then sought care in higher-level hospitals (county hospitals) without referral from primary care physicians
  3. cMinorities mainly include the Miao population and Tujia population
  4. dHousehold net income per year is measured by net household income owned by the residents after subtracting related expenditures. 1 Chinese currency Yuan (CNY) = 0.15 U.S. Dollars
  5. eHaving a primary care provider as a usual provider was approximately measured as that in the past 3 years, patients visited primary care providers more than other hospitals; other providers or none was measured as patients visited higher level hospitals more often than primary care providers or had no particular preference for health care providers
  6. fDisease category: Type A represents ordinary acute diseases; Type B refers to acute disease with co-morbidities; Type C refers to common chronic diseases without comorbidities; Type D is chronic diseases with comorbidities
  7. gPatient’s status at discharge: Others included stable, worse
  8. hCapacity of township hospitals: Four levels of capacity of township hospitals were measured via a comprehensive evaluation conducted by ××. The index included number of physicians and nurses, number of beds, hospital patient volume, outpatient volume, whether or not the providers are able to do the lower abdominal surgery in township hospitals
  9. iResults shown as frequency (percentage). P values were calculated using Chi-square test