Table 2.
Geographical characteristics of the respondents (N=934).
| Characteristics | n (%), Value | |
| Gender | ||
|
|
Male | 379 (40.6) |
|
|
Female | 555 (59.4) |
| Age (years) | ||
|
|
18-25 | 239 (25.6) |
|
|
26-35 | 463 (49.6) |
|
|
36-45 | 159 (17.0) |
|
|
>46 | 73 (7.8) |
| Education | ||
|
|
Middle school or lower | 13 (1.4) |
|
|
High school | 52 (5.6) |
|
|
Three-year college | 138 (14.7) |
|
|
Bachelor | 660 (70.7) |
|
|
Master or higher | 71 (7.6) |
| Residence | ||
|
|
Rural | 137 (14.6) |
|
|
Urban | 797 (85.4) |
| Location | ||
|
|
Eastern | 559 (59.9) |
|
|
Midregion | 164 (17.5) |
|
|
Western | 152 (16.2) |
|
|
Northern | 59 (6.3) |
| Average annual income (¥, US $1=¥6.475) | ||
|
|
0-10,000 | 297 (31.8) |
|
|
11,000-20,000 | 348 (37.3) |
|
|
21,000-30,000 | 174 (18.6) |
|
|
>30,000 | 115 (12.3) |
| Time to the best hospital in district and county (minutes)a |
|
|
|
|
1-10 | 281 (30.1) |
|
|
11-20 | 289 (30.9) |
|
|
21-30 | 227 (24.3) |
|
|
>30 | 137 (14.7) |
| Usage experience |
|
|
|
|
Used | 630 (67.5) |
|
|
Unused | 304 (32.5) |
| Usage frequency last year |
|
|
|
|
0-2 | 215 (34.1) |
|
|
3-5 | 290 (46.0) |
|
|
>5 | 125 (19.9) |
| Use e-consultation for whom |
|
|
|
|
Myself | 352 (55.9) |
|
|
Others | 278 (44.1) |
| Disease severityb |
|
|
|
|
1-5 | 337 (53.5) |
|
|
6-10 | 293 (46.5) |
aMeasures the accessibility of high quality medical resources.
bUsers themselves assessed the severity of last disease consulted by e-consultation using a 5-point Likert scale ranging from “strongly not serious” (1) to “strongly serious” (10).