Table 4.

Factors affecting QoL (EQ-VAS) at follow-up

Per cent (n) within variable	Mean (SD)	Univariate	Adjusted linear regression (R2=33%)
		p Value	Coefficient	95% CI	p Value
Constant term			54.0	(38.1 to 56.6)
Site
Pharmacy	80.9 (15.3)	0.054*	Ref
General practice	75.5 (19.5)		−4.58	(−9.19 to 0.02)	0.051
ED	74.8 (19.6)		−3.61	(−9.72 to 2.49)	0.245
Ailment
Musculoskeletal aches/pains	73.1 (19.4)	0.005†	Ref
Eye pain/discomfort	81.2 (16.5)		1.56	(−4.66 to 7.79)	0.622
Stomach upset	84.7 (11.2)		7.22	(−1.92 to 16.4)	0.121
URT	81.8 (16.5)		4.61	(−0.38 to 9.60)	0.070
Multiple ailments	74.8 (18.4)		5.33	(−2.65 to 13.3)	0.189
Gender
Male	76.6 (18.2)	0.536‡	Ref
Female	78.0 (18.2)		−0.12	(−4.25 to 4.02)	0.956
Employment
Employed	80.6 (15.9)	0.010*	Ref
Retired	74.9 (18.7)		−3.28	(−8.99 to 2.43)	0.259
Other (including student, unemployed)	70.6 (23.1)		−8.27	(−14.0 to−2.55)	0.005
Marital status
Single	78.9 (17.1)	0.736†
Married/living with partner	77.5 (18.6)
Divorced/separated/widowed	75.8 (18.1)
Live alone
Yes	77.6 (18.7)	0.898‡
No	77.2 (16.6)
First time experienced illness?
Yes	76.1 (18.9)	0.159‡
No	79.4 (17.1)
How serious?
Not serious at all	82.5 (14.1)	<0.001‡	Ref
Somewhat/very serious	74.7 (19.7)		−0.55	(−5.05 to 3.96)	0.811
Belief on required
Within 24 h	79.4 (16.9)	0.075‡
Time of visit
24 h or more	75.3 (19.3)
	Correlation
How long had ailment?
(Days)	−0.262§	<0.001	−0.001	(−0.002 to 0.000)	0.163
Baseline EQ-VAS	0.503§	<0.001	0.47	(0.37 to 0.57)	<0.001
Age
(Years)	−0.059§	0.343	−0.11	(−0.27 to 0.5)	0.181

Mean (SD) presented as convention for QoL, but testing may be non-parametric dependent on other assumptions.

*Kruskal-Wallis test.

†ANOVA.

‡Independent t test.

§Spearman's rank correlation.

ANOVA, analysis of variance; ED, emergency department; QoL, quality of life; URT, upper respiratory tract; VAS, visual analogue scale.