Table 1.
Descriptive Statistics of Patient and Hospital Attributes for Sample Persons, 1994 and 1995 (N=1,702)
| Variables | Descriptions | Mean or % | S.D. |
|---|---|---|---|
| DEPENDENT VARIABLE | |||
| Hospital choice | Choice of a typology of hospital (Reference: 1=the closest rural hospital) | 0.56 | 1.18 |
| 2=Other rural hospital | 0.13 | ||
| 3=Urban non-teaching urban hospital type | 0.13 | ||
| 4=Urban teaching hospital type | 0.18 | ||
| INDEPENDENT VARIABLES | |||
| Patient Attributes | |||
| Demographic Characteristics | |||
| Age 75–84 | Sample person is between 75–84 years old, 1=Yes, 0=Otherwise | 0.452 | 0.498 |
| Age 85 and older | Sample person is older than or equal to 85 years, 1=Yes, 0=Otherwise | 0.200 | 0.400 |
| Male | 1=Male, 0=Female | 0.425 | 0.494 |
| Married | 1=Yes, 0=Otherwise | 0.479 | 0.500 |
| Social Structural Variables | |||
| College | Sample person has 16 or more years of education, 1=Yes, 0=Otherwise | 0.890 | 0.313 |
| White | Sample person reports to be of white race, 1=White, 0=Otherwise | 0.168 | 0.374 |
| Income more than $25,000 | 1=Income is more than $25k, 0=Otherwise | 0.199 | 0.399 |
| Medicaid | Sample person self-reported to be Medicaid eligible, 1=Yes, 0=Otherwise | 0.157 | 0.364 |
| Number of children | Number of children of sample respondent | 3.250 | 2.596 |
| Health, Functional Status, and Diagnostic Category | |||
| ADLs | Sum of reported difficulty in performing any of the following six activities: bathing, getting in/out of a chair, dressing, eating, toileting, and/or walking | 1.647 | 1.934 |
| Bedridden | 1=Yes, 0=Otherwise | 0.066 | 0.249 |
| Poor health | 1=Reported perceived health as poor, 0=Otherwise | 0.214 | 0.410 |
| Surgical DRG | 1=Yes, 0=Otherwise | 0.295 | 0.456 |
| Psychiatric diagnosis | 1=Yes, 0=Otherwise | 0.011 | 0.102 |
| Cardiovascular procedure | 1=Hospitalization for DRG 103-112, 117, 124, 125; 0=Otherwise | 0.079 | 0.269 |
| Technical intensive conditions | 1=Hospitalization for DRG 5, 106, 107, 112, 214, 410; 0=Otherwise | 0.042 | 0.201 |
| Case-mix index weight | The relative Medicare hospital case-mix weight for the DRG of the hospitalization | 1.394 | 1.045 |
| Number of surgical procedures | Number of surgical procedures performed in the hospital stay | 1.144 | 1.573 |
| Satisfaction with and Access to Medical Care | |||
| Regular source of care | 1=Sample person has a regular source of care, 0=otherwise | 0.981 | 0.136 |
| Longer physician–patient tie | Sample person has seen his/her regular physician for one year or more, 1=Yes, 0=Otherwise | 0.860 | 0.347 |
| Less accessible to physician | Sample person is 30 minutes or more away from physician's office 1=Yes, 0=Otherwise | 0.136 | 0.343 |
| Dissatisfaction with the availability of health care | 1=dissatisfied/very dissatisfied about service availability or there was trouble getting care because unavailable, or not see doctor because of access, 0=otherwise | 0.223 | 0.417 |
| Dissatisfaction with the quality of physician | 1=dissatisfaction on questions regarding overall quality of physician care, regarding physician's technical competence, or with physician practice style, 0=otherwise | 0.375 | 0.484 |
| Prior Use | |||
| Bypass in 12 month | 1=Sample person utilized a hospital other than the closest rural hospital in the past 12 months, 0=Otherwise | 0.405 | 0.491 |
| Hospitalized in 12 month | 1=Sample person was hospitalized in the past 12 months, 0=Otherwise | 0.174 | 0.379 |
| Hospital Attributes* | |||
| Bed size | Average number of acute care beds of the aggregate choice alternative | CR=105.14 OR=133.69 | |
| OU=243.90 | |||
| UT=585.86 | |||
| Guttman scale of hospital service capacity | Average of the Guttman Scale of service complexity of the aggregate choice alternative | CR=5.91 OR=6.24 OU=7.30 | |
| UT=10.68 | |||
| Number of hospitals | Total number of hospitals of the aggregated choice alternative | CR=1.06 OR=2.95 | |
| OU=3.55 | |||
| UT=4.31 | |||
| Distance to hospital | Average distance between sample person and the hospital alternative | CR=5.56 OR=96.14 OU=211.42 | |
| UT=172.70 | |||
+CR=closest rural hospital,
OR=Other rural hospital,
OU=Other urban hospital
UT=urban teaching hospital.
*
Choice alternative means are significantly different at 1% level under ANOVA.