Table 3.

Factors associated with median pretreatment direct costs (excluding hospitalization costs)

Characteristic	Median U.S. dollar	Unadjusted			Adjusted*
		Coefficient	P-value	95% CI	Coefficient	P-value	95% CI
Gender
Male	32.50	–	–	–	–	–	–
Female	32.60	−0.22	0.941	−6.03–5.59	–	–	–
Age-group (years)
18–39	32.72	–	–	–	–	–	–
40+	32.42	−0.22	0.945	−6.38–5.94	–	–	–
Comorbidity
No	32.35	–	–	–	–	–	–
Yes	32.72	0.36	0.915	−6.32–7.05	–	–	–
Education
<Primary school completed	33.15	–	–	–	–	–	–
≥ Secondary school	32.50	−1.31	0.714	−8.33–5.71	–	–	–
Insurance
No insurance	41.88	–	–	–	–	–	–
National health/private insurance	27.41	−14.32	< 0.001	−20.5–8.13	−10.40	< 0.001	−16.2–4.61
Household members
≤ 4	32.72	–	–	–	–	–	–
> 4	32.17	−0.36	0.903	−6.20–5.47	–	–	–
Income-earning job
No	32.35	–	–	–	–	–	–
Yes	32.61	0.36	0.903	−5.48–6.21	–	–	–
Primary income earner
Patient	32.42	–	–	–	–	–	–
Not patient	32.72	−0.22	0.941	−6.02–5.58	–	–	–
Number of visits to a healthcare provider pre-diagnosis
< 6	24.32	–	–	–	–	–	–
≥ 6	39.91	14.83	< 0.001	8.51–21.15	13.23	< 0.001	7.55–18.91
Days from the first symptoms to diagnosis
< 60	26.25	–	–	–	–	–	–
≥ 60	36.35	10.10	0.001	4.41–15.80	6.47	0.021	0.97–11.96
First healthcare provider visited
Community health center	13.52	–	–	–	–	–	–
Public hospital	19.63	–	–	–	–	–	–
Private hospital	21.26	–	–	–	–	–	–
Private practitioner	40.71	–	–	–	–	–	–
Informal provider	32.72	4.65	< 0.001	2.52–6.79	2.71	0.011	0.63–4.79

^*Adjusted for all values with a P-value < 0.2 in the univariable analysis and the site of recruitment.