Quality of primary care from patients’ perspective: a cross sectional study of outpatients’ experience in public health facilities in rural Malawi

Table 4 Linear regression models assessing association between sociodemographic and health care factors and total primary care scores with unstandardized beta values among 631 patients attending outpatient clinics in Neno district, Malawi (August–September, 2016)

Factor	B	95%CI	P value
Sex^a
Female^c	17.1	16.8, 17.4
Male	0.7	0.2, 1.2	0.01
Age^a
18–30 years^c	17.2	16.8, 17.6
30–45 years	0.2	− 0.3, 0.8	0.43
> 45 years	0.4	− 0.3, 1.1	0.24
Education^b
0–5 years primary^c	17.0	16.5, 17.4
6–8 years primary	0.3	− 0.2, 0.9	0.23
At least secondary	−0.4	−1.1, 0.3	0.28
Geographical location^b
Lower Neno^c	16.8	16.4, 17.3
Upper Neno	0.5	0.04, 1.0	0.033
Distance to facility^b
< 1 h walk^c	16.9	16.5, 17.4
> 1 h walk	0.2	−0.3, 0.7	0.38
Cost of travel to facility^b
0 MK^c	17.1	16.7, 17.5
1–500 MK	− 1.0	−1.8, − 0.2	0.016
> 500 MK	0.2	−0.4, 0.8	0.57
Waiting times at facility
Up to 30 mins^c	17.0	16.5, 17.5
30–90 min	− 0.3	−0.9, 0.3	0.31
> 90 mins	0.4	−0.2, 1.0	0.20
Duration of contact^b
Up to 2 years^c	16.3	15.7, 17.0
2–4 years	0.3	−0.5, 1.2	0.42
> 4 years	1.1	0.4, 1.2	0.003
Reason for attendance^b
Chronic condition^c	17.4	16.9, 17.9
Acute condition	−.0.6	−1.0, − 0.1	0.03
Self-rated health status^b
Poor – fair^c	16.4	15.8, 16.9
Good	0.8	0.1, 1.5	0.034
> good	0.9	0.3, 1.4	0.002
By health facility^b
A^c (hospital outpatient clinic)	18.3	17.5, 19.1
B (health center)	−1.2	−1.2, −0.2	0.018
C (health center)	−0.6	−1.6, 0.5	0.30
D (health center)	−1.5	−2.5, −0.4	0.006
E (health center)	−1.6	−2.7, −0.6	0.002
F (hospital outpatient clinic)	0.5	−0.53, 1.51	0.34
G (health center)	−2.0	−3.1, −1.0	< 0.001
H (health center)	−1.7	−2.8, −0.7	0.001
I (health center)	−2.0	−3.0, −1.0	< 0.001
J (health center)	−1.5	−2.7, −0.4	0.01

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