Table 2. Characteristics of quantitative studies comparing public and formal private providers by region (n = 80).
| Characteristic | South Asia, East Asia, and Pacific | Sub-Saharan Africa | Othera | Total Number of Studies |
| Language | ||||
| English | 23 | 33 | 16 | 72 |
| French | 0 | 6 | 2 | 8 |
| Study year range | ||||
| 1980–1989 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 1990–1999 | 8 | 16 | 7 | 31 |
| 2000–2009 | 14 | 21 | 10 | 45 |
| Primary study purpose | ||||
| Describe or compare quality of private and public services | 17 | 28 | 13 | 58 |
| Assess drug availability and affordability | 4 | 3 | 2 | 9 |
| Assess demand for, access to, or utilisation of services, or efficiency of service delivery | 2 | 8 | 3 | 13 |
| Service type | ||||
| Promotive or preventive | 1 | 4 | 2 | 7 |
| Curative, rehabilitative, or palliative | 7 | 14 | 7 | 28 |
| All types | 12 | 18 | 8 | 38 |
| Not specified | 3 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
| Disease category | ||||
| Both CD and NCD | 14 | 24 | 9 | 47 |
| CD | 7 | 13 | 5 | 25 |
| NCD | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Not specified | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Population age | ||||
| Adult | 6 | 11 | 2 | 19 |
| Both adult and child | 15 | 21 | 7 | 43 |
| Child | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
| Not specified | 1 | 5 | 5 | 11 |
| Population gender | ||||
| Both (male and female) | 21 | 34 | 15 | 70 |
| Female | 2 | 5 | 3 | 10 |
| Total number of studies | 23 | 39 | 18 | 80 |
a
Includes Europe and Central Asia (n = 1), Latin America and the Caribbean (n = 6), the Middle East and North Africa (n = 7), and studies reporting on countries in more than one world region (n = 4).