Table 1. Sociodemographic characteristics and measures of preexisting health status for those with and without history of enteric infection, Western Australia, Australia, January 1, 1985–December 31, 2000.
| Characteristic | History, no. (%), n = 23,477 | No history, no. (%), n = 312,924 | % Difference* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Male sex | 12,297 (52.4) | 156,873 (50.1) | 2.3 |
| Not of indigenous status | 19,872 (84.6) | 272,226 (87.0) | –2.4 |
| Singleton birth | 22,867 (97.4) | 305,028 (97.5) | –0.1 |
| Hospital birth |
22,382 (95.3) |
298,919 (95.5) |
–0.2 |
| Weight at birth, g | |||
| <2,000 | 544 (2.3) | 4,862 (1.6) | 0.7 |
| 2,001–3,000 | 5,114 (21.8) | 58,256 (18.6) | 3.2† |
| 3,001–4,000 | 14,550 (62.0) | 205,289 (65.6) | –3.6† |
| 4,001–5,000 | 2,005 (8.5) | 31,705 (10.1) | –1.6 |
| >5,001 |
43 (0.2) |
469 (0.1) |
0.1 |
| Socioeconomic status | |||
| Extremely advantaged | 4,315 (18.4) | 64,322 (20.6) | –2.2 |
| Advantaged | 3,365 (14.3) | 43,709 (14.0) | 0.3 |
| Average | 3,070 (13.1) | 36,159 (11.6) | 1.5 |
| Disadvantaged | 5,653 (24.1) | 61,379 (19.6) | 4.5† |
| Extremely disadvantaged |
6,322 (26.9) |
58,610 (18.7) |
8.2† |
| Accessibility to services | |||
| Highly accessible | 14,926 (63.6) | 199,090 (63.6) | 0 |
| Accessible | 1,748 (7.4) | 19,056 (6.1) | 1.3 |
| Moderately accessible | 2,042 (8.7) | 19,836 (6.3) | 2.4 |
| Remote | 804 (3.4) | 6,770 (2.2) | 1.2 |
| Very remote |
2,812 (12.0) |
13,808 (4.4) |
7.6† |
| Ever hospitalized for a comorbidity‡ | 22,561 (96.1) | 254,745 (81.4) | 14.7† |
| Prior hospitalization‡ | 22,786 (97.0) | 264,702 (84.6) | 12.4† |
| Hospitalization in first year of life‡ | 18,361 (78.2) | 189,959 (60.7) | 17.5† |
| Hospitalization in first month of life‡ | 15,785 (67.2) | 177,679 (56.8) | 10.4† |
*Percentage with history – percentage without history. †p<0.0001. ‡Excludes hospitalization for sequelae.