Table 1.
Questionnaire scale, variables, and definitions
| Variable types | Latent variables | Measurement variables | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Symbol | Name | Symbol | Question items | Definition | |
| Exogenous variables | ξ1 | Hospital image | X11 | Trust for LLH | 1 for negative change, 2 for no change, 3–5 for ordinary positive change |
| X12 | Awareness for the descending hospitals | 1–5 ordinary variables from very low to very high | |||
| X13 | Awareness for the descending doctors | 1–5 ordinary variables from very low to very high | |||
| ξ2 | Patient expectation | X21 | Accessibility to the descending doctors | 1–5 ordinary variables from very low to very high | |
| X22 | LLH capability change | 1 for negative change, 2 for no change, 3–5 for ordinary positive change | |||
| X23 | Medical cost change | 1 for positive change, 2 for no change, 3–5 for ordinary negative change | |||
| ξ3 | Perceived quality | X31 | Convenience changes | 1–5 ordinary variables from very low to very high | |
| X32 | LLH Environment change | 1–5 ordinary variables from very low to very high | |||
| ξ4 | Reform policy | X41 | Reform Recognition | 1–5 ordinary variables from very low to very high | |
| X42 | Reform information Channels | 1 for public channels (newspaper, TV and hospital), private channels being 0 | |||
| X43 | Medical service price | 1–5 ordinary variables from very low to very high | |||
| X44 | Insurance reimbursement | 1–5 ordinary variables from very low to very high | |||
| X45 | Tiered medical service | 1–5 ordinary variables from very low to very high | |||
| ξ5 | Socio-demographics | X51 | Gender | 1 for male and 0 for female | |
| X52 | Age | 1 for ≤30, 2–5 for 31–40, 41–50, 51–60, and ≥ 61, respectively | |||
| X53 | Education level | 1 for primary or below, 2–5 for junior, high school, college or university, graduate degree, respectively | |||
| Mediating variable | ξ6 | Satisfaction | ME1 | Reform satisfaction | 1–5 ordinary variables from very low to very high |
| ME2 | LLH satisfaction | 1–5 ordinary variables from very low to very high | |||
| Endogenous variable | η | Hospital selection (Loyalty) | Y1 | Intention to choose LLH | 1–5 ordinary variable from very low to very high |
| Y2 | Intention to choose LLH when suffering serious illness | 1–5 ordinary variables from very low to very high | |||
Source: The authors