Table 2.

Association of demographic, socioeconomic and health related characteristics with choices for western medicine consultation and OTC medication

	Used western OTC medications only Adjusted Odds Ratio (95%CI)	P values	Choice between western medicine consultations and western OTC medications Adjusted Odds Ratios (95%CI)	P values
Gender
Female	Reference		Reference
Male	1.31 (1.17, 1.46)	< 0.001	1.03 (0.96, 1.10)	NS
Age
15-29	Reference		Reference
30-39	1.21 (1.02, 1.44)	0.032	1.09 (0.98, 1.22)	NS
40-49	1.28 (1.07, 1.53)	0.007	1.05 (0.94, 1.18)	NS
50-59	1.14 (0.93, 1.39)	NS	0.90 (0.79, 1.02)	NS
60-69	0.93 (0.73, 1.19)	NS	0.73 (0.63, 0.85)	< 0.001
70 or above	0.50 (0.38, 0.67)	< 0.001	0.49 (0.42, 0.57)	< 0.001
Education level
Below Primary	Reference		Reference
Primary	1.42 (1.09, 1.84)	0.008	1.15 (1.01, 1.32)	0.047
Secondary	1.35 (1.04, 1.75)	0.023	1.11 (0.97, 1.27)	NS
Tertiary	0.98 (0.72, 1.33)	NS	0.84 (0.71, 0.98)	0.027
Marital status
Currently married	Reference		Reference
Not currently married	1.00 (0.88, 1.13)	NS	0.95 (0.88, 1.03)	NS
Self reported health
Poor	Reference		Reference
Good/fair	1.44 (1.15, 1.80)	0.001	1.44 (1.28, 1.62)	< 0.001
Excellent/very good	1.21 (0.93, 1.57)	NS	1.19 (1.03, 1.38)	0.021
Self reported chronic disease status
No	Reference		Reference:
Yes	0.10 (0.08, 0.13)	< 0.001	0.82 (0.76, 0.89)	< 0.001
Drinking habit
No	Reference		Reference
Yes	1.03 (0.89, 1.21)	NS	0.97 (0.88, 1.07)	NS
Current smoker
No	Reference		Reference
Yes	1.56 (1.38, 1.78)	< 0.001	1.12 (1.02, 1.22)	0.010
Moderate exercise >=2.5 hours/week
No	Reference		Reference
Yes	0.81 (0.72, 0.91)	< 0.001	0.86 (0.80, 0.92)	< 0.001
Possession of western medicine insurance (%)
No	Reference		Reference
Yes	0.55 (0.47, 0.63)	< 0.001	0.99 (0.91, 1.07)	NS
Possession of Chinese medicine insurance (%)
No	Reference		Reference
Yes	0.91 (0.71, 1.15)	NS	1.12 (0.98, 1.27)	NS
Monthly personal income (for every increment of HK$ 1000, or US$ 128.2)	0.98 (0.98, 0.99)	< 0.001	1.00 (0.99, 1.00)	0.022

NS: Statistically non-significant (p > 0.05)