Table 1.
General characteristics of sample of visually impaired patients in 2015
| Characteristics | n (%) | Outpatient visit | Inpatient visit | Hospital stay per visit (days) | Household income (USD) |
| Total | 298 | 9.7 | 0.6 | 2.7 | 13 457.8 |
| Age (years) | |||||
| 19–50 | 39 (13.1) | 11.4 | 1.1 | 3.5 | 12 696.0 |
| 51–70 | 125 (41.9) | 10.8 | 0.6 | 2.6 | 13 452.4 |
| 71–90 | 134 (45.0) | 8.1 | 0.4 | 2.5 | 13 684.4 |
| Gender | |||||
| Male | 142 (47.7) | 10.7 | 0.6 | 2.7 | 14 408.2 |
| Female | 156 (52.3) | 8.8 | 0.5 | 2.7 | 12 592.6 |
| Ethnicity | |||||
| Han | 278 (93.3) | 9.4 | 0.6 | 2.7 | 12 788.9 |
| Minority | 20 (6.7) | 13.9 | 0.7 | 2.1 | 22 755.0 |
| Educational level | |||||
| Primary and below | 71 (23.8) | 9.3 | 0.5 | 1.9 | 6945.0 |
| Middle and high school | 159 (53.4) | 9.9 | 0.6 | 2.7 | 13 853.7 |
| College and above | 68 (22.8) | 9.6 | 0.7 | 3.3 | 19 332.0 |
| Occupation* | |||||
| Management personnel | 32 (10.7) | 12.1 | 0.8 | 2.3 | 15 623.8 |
| Professional personnel | 81 (27.2) | 9.0 | 0.6 | 2.5 | 16 599.2 |
| General staff | 89 (29.9) | 10.1 | 0.6 | 2.2 | 14 206.2 |
| Farmer | 56 (18.8) | 6.9 | 0.4 | 2.0 | 4707.6 |
| Other professions | 11 (3.7) | 14.0 | 0.5 | 2.9 | 28 215.5 |
| Unemployed | 29 (9.7) | 7.7 | 1.0 | 3.1 | 11 295.3 |
| Marital status | |||||
| Unmarried | 44 (14.8) | 5.0 | 0.8 | 2.4 | 12 740.7 |
| Married | 254 (85.2) | 10.5 | 0.5 | 2.7 | 13 582.0 |
| Living status | |||||
| Alone | 16 (5.4) | 7.9 | 0.6 | 5.6 | 6304.6 |
| With family | 282 (94.6) | 9.8 | 0.6 | 2.5 | 13 863.6 |
| Current living place | |||||
| Urban | 214 (71.8) | 9.7 | 0.6 | 2.7 | 15 792.0 |
| Rural | 84 (28.2) | 9.6 | 0.6 | 2.6 | 7511.1 |
| Medical insurance† | |||||
| None | 8 (2.7) | 18.1 | 1.4 | 3 | 18 299.2 |
| NCMS | 71 (23.8) | 9.8 | 0.6 | 2.3 | 15 099.4 |
| URBMI | 40 (13.4) | 8.1 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 11 345.5 |
| UEBMI | 123 (41.3) | 10.2 | 0.5 | 3.6 | 6333.6 |
| GMI | 42 (14.1) | 7.9 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 31 936.8 |
| CMI | 14 (4.7) | 5.5 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 4249.6 |
| Level of VI | |||||
| Moderate VI | 174 (58.4) | 9.7 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 15 021.5 |
| Severe VI | 86 (28.9) | 9.6 | 0.7 | 3.5 | 12 308.5 |
| Blind | 38 (12.8) | 10.0 | 1.2 | 4.7 | 8898.5 |
| Duration of VI (months)‡ | |||||
| 3–6 | 36 (12.1) | 4.6 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 12 948.3 |
| 6–12 | 48 (16.1) | 7.5 | 0.5 | 2.8 | 9755.8 |
| >12 | 214 (71.8) | 11.1 | 0.6 | 2.9 | 14 373.8 |
| Cause of VI | |||||
| Cataract | 80 (26.8) | 4.8 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 10 898.1 |
| AMD | 35 (11.7) | 12.1 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 12 185.9 |
| Vascular retinopathy | 27 (9.1) | 8.9 | 0.9 | 2.1 | 14 326.4 |
| Glaucoma | 17 (5.7) | 16.7 | 1.2 | 6.2 | 17 850.1 |
| Other eye diseases | 60 (20.1) | 10.1 | 0.6 | 2.6 | 11 511.3 |
| Multiple ocular diseases | 79 (26.5) | 12.0 | 0.7 | 3.8 | 16 849.5 |
| Economic status§ | |||||
| Lowest | 59 (19.8) | 10.0 | 0.6 | 2.3 | 2445.9 |
| Lower | 59 (19.8) | 7.7 | 0.8 | 3.9 | 6464.2 |
| Middle | 60 (20.1) | 8.3 | 0.5 | 3.3 | 10 890.3 |
| Higher | 60 (20.1) | 14.2 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 15 481.5 |
| Highest | 60 (20.1) | 8.4 | 0.6 | 2.4 | 32 134.7 |
*Occupation included current profession of unretired participants and former profession for the retired. Professional personnel were professional and technical personnel, that is, teachers, doctors, lawyers, engineers, among others.
†Public insurance included NCMS in the rural area, UEBMI, URBMI and GMI. NCMS was insurance for rural residents, UEBMI was for urban employees of urban enterprises, and URBMI was for those who were not employed or were flexible employees and children with urban household registration, students of urban schools and rural migrants who worked in cities. GMI, also called publicly funded free medical care, was insurance for some of the civil servants and personnel at public institutions. CMI was supplement of public medical insurance, purchased by respondents’ employers or by themselves from an insurance company.
‡Duration of VI was defined by the period from the time during which the participants had their current visually impaired level.
§Economic status was divided into five equal intervals based on household income per capita of the study participants. Lowest US$60.7,1274.9; lower US$1365.9 and US$2428.3, middle US$2529.5 and US$4097.8, higher US$4249.6 and US$6677.9, and highest US$7183.8 and US$37 942.6.
AMD, age-related macular degeneration; CMI, commercial medical insurance; GMI, government medical insurance; NCMS, new cooperative medical scheme; UEBMI, urban employee basic medical insurance; URBMI, urban resident basic medical insurance; VI, visual impairment.