TABLE 3—

Characteristics of the National Maternal and Infant Health Survey Sample Before and After Implementation of National Health Insurance (NHI): Taiwan, 1989 and 1996

	Pre-NHI (n = 1398)		Post-NHI (n = 3184)
	Mean (SD)	%a	Mean (SD)	%a
Variables
Infant’s characteristics
Gender	0.534 (0.50)		0.527 (0.50)
Male		65.9		87.0
Female		65.0		88.5
Gestation period	0.971 (0.17)		0.936 (0.25)
≥36 wk		65.4		88.0
< 36 wk		65.9		82.4
Birth order	0.372 (0.48)		0.444 (0.50)
First birth		68.7		91.0
Not first birth		63.6		84.5
Hospital birth	0.487 (0.50)		0.540 (0.50)
Yes		63.0		89.0
No		67.8		86.1
Well-baby care use	0.539 (0.50)		0.550 (0.50)
Yes		63.7		90.1
No		67.6		85.0
Primary caregiver
Grandparents	0.225 (0.42)	68.3	0.285 (0.45)	89.3
Babysitter	0.114 (0.32)	59.4	0.142 (0.35)	86.3
Parents	0.661 (0.47)	65.6	0.573 (0.49)	87.2
Maternal characteristics
Age, y
< 25	0.302 (0.46)	65.6	0.228 (0.42)	88.3
25–34	0.657 (0.47)	66.0	0.699 (0.46)	87.9
≥35	0.041 (0.20)	55.2	0.073 (0.26)	83.3
Education
Primary school and below	0.157 (0.36)	61.8	0.046 (0.21)	81.4
Junior high	0.280 (0.45)	66.8	0.180 (0.38)	85.6
Senior high	0.423 (0.49)	68.0	0.528 (0.50)	88.2
Junior college	0.083 (0.28)	59.5	0.150 (0.36)	88.3
College and above	0.057 (0.23)	58.2	0.096 (0.30)	90.9
Occupation
Housewife	0.617 (0.49)	63.9	0.396 (0.49)	86.3
Government	0.070 (0.26)	67.4	0.125 (0.33)	89.2
Laborer	0.137 (0.34)	70.0	0.208 (0.41)	88.1
Farmer	0.007 (0.08)	70.0	0.004 (0.06)
100.0
Businesswoman	0.112 (0.32)	67.5	0.203 (0.40)	88.5
Other	0.057 (0.23)	66.0	0.064 (0.25)	88.3
Geographic characteristics
Central	0.275 (0.45)	68.3	0.250 (0.43)	88.1
South	0.250 (0.43)	62.6	0.226 (0.42)	86.7
East	0.064 (0.25)	72.2	0.077 (0.27)	86.0
North	0.410 (0.49)	64.2	0.448 (0.50)	88.2

^a The percentage of the sample who have complete immunizations.