Table 2 Study variables and data sources
Variable | Definition | Measurement | Source (s) of data |
|---|---|---|---|
Inputs | |||
 Bed | Hospital beds | Total number of beds in the year | AHSPR for FYs 2012/13, 2014/15 and 2016/17 |
 Staff | Medical personnel | Total number of staff (Medical Officers, Dental, Pharmacy, Nursing, Allied Health Professionals, Administrative and Other Staff) in the year | AHSPR (FY 2016/17), Integrated Human Resource Information System; Reports of the Catholic and Protestant Medical Bureaux |
Outputs | |||
 OPD | OPD visits | Total number of outpatient visits in the year | AHSPR for FYs 2012/13, 2014/15 and 2016/17 |
 ADM | Hospital admissions | Total number of inpatient admissions | AHSPR for FYs 2012/13, 2014/15 and 2016/17 |
 Deliveries | Deliveries (births) | Total number of deliveries in the year | AHSPR for FYs 2012/13, 2014/15 and 2016/17 |
Predictors | |||
 Ownership | Hospital ownership | Authority that owns the hospital: public (1) or private (0) | AHSPR (FY 2016/17) |
 Hospsize | Hospital size | Size of the hospital classified using the median number of beds: large (> 120 beds [1]), small (<=120 beds [0]). Given the variability in sizes of general hospitals across the world, lack of global or national benchmark for their optimal size and the need to ensure fair distribution of small and large hospitals presentation in the 2 groups, the authors used the median bed size rounded to the nearest ten i.e. 120 as the benchmark to classify the 78 general hospitals as small and large. | PR (FY 2016/17) |
 Propqualstaff | Proportion of qualified staff | Number of staff with formal qualifications (Medical Officers, Dental, Pharmacy, Nursing, Allied Health Professionals, Administrative and Other Staff) as a proportion of all staff in the year | iHRIS, Reports from Catholic and Protestant Medical Bureaus |
 Region | Geographical location | Region where the hospital is located: Central or Western Uganda (1), Northern or Eastern Uganda (0) | AHSPR (FY 2016/17) |
 BOR | Bed occupancy rate | Total annual inpatient days as a ratio of annual available bed days × 100 | AHSPR (FY 2016/17) |
 TrainingStatus | Training status | Hospital is used for training health professionals or not: Yes (1) and No (0) | Ministry of Health Training Unit, Catholic Medical and Protestant Medical Bureaus |
 OPDIBD | Outpatient visit to total inpatient days ratio | Total number of OPD visits divided by total number of inpatient bed days in the year | AHSPR (FY 2016/17) |
 AvStayADM | Average length of stay | Total annual number of inpatient days spent/total annual number of admissions | AHSPR (FY 2016/17) |