Table 2.
Descriptive results: prescribing decisions and process quality of care
| All consultations | Public sector consultations | Private sector consultations | P value* | |
| Patient treatment includes | ||||
| Number of drugs | 2.84 (2.67 to 3.00) | 2.30 (2.12 to 2.49) | 3.38 (3.16 to 3.61) | <0.001 |
| Antibiotics | 72.6% (65.9 to 78.7) | 78.4% (69.2 to 86.0) | 66.7% (56.5 to 75.8) | 0.061 |
| ‘Access’ antibiotics | 60.7% (53.6 to 67.5) | 74.5% (64.9 to 82.6) | 46.5% (36.4 to 56.8) | <0.001 |
| ‘Watch’ antibiotics | 12.4% (08.2 to 17.8) | 4.9% (01.6 to 11.1) | 20.2% (12.8 to 29.5) | 0.001 |
| Steroids | 26.4% (20.4 to 33.0) | 2.9% (00.6 to 08.4) | 50.5% (40.3 to 60.7) | <0.001 |
| Bronchodilators | 14.4% (09.9 to 20.1) | 1.0% (00.0 to 05.3) | 28.3% (19.7 to 38.2) | <0.001 |
| Antihistamines | 29.9% (23.6 to 36.7) | 41.2% (31.5 to 51.4) | 18.2% (11.1 to 27.2) | <0.001 |
| Process quality of care measures | ||||
| Consultation duration (min) | 8.91 (8.29 to 9.52) | 7.77 (7.01 to 8.54) | 10.07 (9.14 to 11.00) | <0.001 |
| Number of essential questions asked | 7.37 (6.85 to 7.90) | 6.13 (5.41 to 6.84) | 8.66 (7.95 to 9.36) | <0.001 |
| Number of essential examinations done | 3.93 (3.61 to 4.24) | 2.60 (2.30 to 2.90) | 5.29 (4.88 to 5.70) | <0.001 |
| Provider retrieved discriminating information | 32.8% (26.4 to 39.8) | 5.9% (02.2 to 12.4) | 60.6% (50.3 to 70.3) | <0.001 |
| Number of observations | 201 | 102 | 99 |
Numbers indicate mean or proportions, with 95% CIs in parentheses. Sample sizes are numbers of standardised patient consultations.
*The p value is based on t-test for means and χ2 tests for proportions comparing the private and public sector characteristics.