Table 1.
Description of variables.
| Variables and description | Variable assignment | ||
| Explained variable |
|
||
|
|
Medical choice | 0=Self-care, 1=Hospital care | |
| Tier of hospital care | 1=Primary hospital, 2=County hospital, 3=Municipal hospital | ||
| Explanatory variables |
|
||
|
|
Online browsing | 0=No, 1=Yes | |
| Internet access | 0=No, 1=Yes | ||
| Confounders |
|
||
|
|
Marital status | 0=Married, 1=Other (single, widowed, divorced, or separated) | |
| Age | 0=18-44 years old, 1=45-59 years old, 3=60-74 years old, 4=≥75 years old | ||
| Gender | 0=Female, 1=Male | ||
| Education levela (years) | Years of being educated | ||
| Medical insurance | 0=No, 1=Yes | ||
| District | 0=Center, 1=East, 2=West | ||
| Residence site | 0=Rural, 1=Urban | ||
| Time | Survey year (1=2006, 2=2009, 3=2011, 4=2015) | ||
| Disease/injury severity | 1=Not severe, 2=Somewhat severe, 3=Quite severe | ||
| Chronic diseasesa | The number of chronic diseases diagnosed by doctors, including hypertension, diabetes, myocardial infarction, stroke, asthma, tumor | ||
| BMIa (kg/m2) | Body mass index, calculated by weight (kg)/height (m2) | ||
| Hypertension (years)a | Years of suffering from hypertension | ||
aContinuous variable.