Table 2.
Baseline characteristics of children according to exposure to maternal consultations for NSPS
| Variable | Exposed to maternal visits for NSPS (n = 703) n(%) | Unexposed to maternal visits for NSPS (n = 734) n(%) | p -value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Child age group | |||
| 2-6 years | 229 (32.6) | 254 (34.6) | 0.069 |
| 7-11 years | 188 (26.7) | 158 (21.5) | |
| 12-16 years | 286 (40.7) | 322 (43.9) | |
| Child gender | |||
| Female | 392 (55.8) | 398 (54.2) | 0.594 |
| Male | 311 (44.2) | 336 (45.8) | |
| Mother age group | |||
| 19-28 | 94 (13.4) | 113 (15.4) | 0.470 |
| 29-39 | 305 (43.4) | 301 (41.0) | |
| 40-50 | 269 (38.3) | 291 (39.6) | |
| 51-61 | 35 (5.0) | 29 (4.0) | |
| Child birth order | |||
| First | 391 (55.6) | 451 (61.4) | 0.029 |
| Not first | 312 (44.4) | 283 (38.6) | |
| Household members’ count a | 4 (1) | 3 (1) | 0.093 |
| Number of siblings a | 1 (1) | 1 (1) | 0.254 |
| IMD 2007quintiles b | |||
| I | 139 (19.8) | 167 (22.8) | 0.161 |
| II | 136 (19.3) | 144 (19.6) | |
| III | 143 (20.3) | 154 (21.0) | |
| IV | 166 (23.6) | 135 (18.4) | |
| V | 115 (16.4) | 129 (17.6) | |
| Maternal history of anxiety or depression | |||
| No | 441 (62.7) | 635 (86.5) | <0.001 |
| Yes | 262 (37.3) | 99 (13.5) |
NSPS - non-specific physical symptoms; aNumbers are Median (Interquartile range); IMD – Index of multiple deprivation; bIMD 2007 scores were missing for 4 of exposed (0.5%) and 5 of unexposed (0.7%) children. Differences between exposed and unexposed children were tested using Mann-Whitney U test for household members’ count and number of siblings, and Chi-squared tests for the remaining variables.