Table 1.
Respondents’ Socioeconomic Characteristics, Health Status, and Attitude Towards Medical Care
| Variables | Pattern of Physician Visit Utilization | Total (n = 768) | P-value | OR (95%C.I) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Out-of-Network Users (n = 485) | NHIF Users Only (n = 283) | |||||||
| N | % | N | % | N | % | |||
| Age | ||||||||
| <40® | 99 | 20.4 | 131 | 46.3 | 230 | 29.9 | <0.001* | 1.000 |
| 40–49 | 126 | 26.0 | 69 | 24.4 | 195 | 25.4 | 0.41 (0.28–0.61) | |
| 50–59 | 150 | 30.9 | 38 | 13.4 | 188 | 24.5 | 0.19 (0.12–0.29) | |
| ≥60+ | 110 | 22.7 | 45 | 15.9 | 155 | 20.2 | 0.30 (0.20–0.48) | |
| Mean ± SD. | 49.2 ± 11.9 | 41.7 ± 13.7 | 46.4 ± 13.1 | |||||
| Median (IQR) | 50 (40–57) | 40 (30–50) | 45 (35–55) | |||||
| Gender | ||||||||
| Male® | 251 | 51.8 | 94 | 33.2 | 345 | 44.9 | <0.001* | 1.000 |
| Female | 234 | 48.2 | 189 | 66.8 | 423 | 55.1 | 2.2 (1.59–2.93) | |
| Education | ||||||||
| Below secondary | 97 | 20.0 | 44 | 15.5 | 141 | 18.4 | <0.001* | 0.73 (0.48–1.12) |
| Secondary | 153 | 31.5 | 65 | 23.0 | 218 | 28.4 | 0.67 (0.47–0.99) | |
| Technical diploma | 46 | 9.5 | 57 | 20.1 | 103 | 13.4 | 2.00 (1.27–3.14) | |
| University +® | 189 | 39.0 | 117 | 41.3 | 306 | 39.8 | 1.000 | |
| Marital status | ||||||||
| Married® | 319 | 65.8 | 132 | 46.6 | 451 | 58.7 | <0.001* | 1.000 |
| Single | 47 | 9.7 | 76 | 26.9 | 123 | 16.0 | 3.90 (2.58–5.92) | |
| Divorced/widowed | 119 | 24.5 | 75 | 26.5 | 194 | 25.3 | 1.52 (1.07–2.17) | |
| Number of dependents | ||||||||
| Less than Three | 88 | 18.1 | 93 | 32.9 | 181 | 23.6 | <0.001* | 1.000 |
| Three or more | 397 | 81.9 | 190 | 67.1 | 587 | 76.4 | 0.31 (0.22–0.44) | |
| Monthly family income (SDG) | ||||||||
| <30,000® | 38 | 7.8 | 79 | 27.9 | 117 | 15.2 | 1.000 | |
| 30,000 – <50,000 | 177 | 36.5 | 110 | 38.9 | 287 | 37.4 | <0.001* | 0.30 (0.19–0.47) |
| >50,000 | 270 | 55.7 | 94 | 33.2 | 364 | 47.4 | 0.17 (0.11–0.26) | |
| Median (IQR) | 50,000 (40,000–60,000) | 40,000 (28,000–51,000) | 45,000 (30,000–60,000) | |||||
| Chronic diseases | ||||||||
| None® | 113 | 23.3 | 180 | 63.6 | 293 | 38.2 | <0.001* | 1.000 |
| One | 154 | 31.8 | 46 | 16.3 | 200 | 26.0 | 0.19 (0.13–0.28) | |
| Two | 189 | 39.0 | 43 | 15.2 | 232 | 30.2 | 0.14 (0.09–0.21) | |
| Three or more | 29 | 6.0 | 14 | 4.9 | 43 | 5.6 | 0.30 (0.15–0.59) | |
| Self-reported health | ||||||||
| Excellent® | 158 | 32.6 | 157 | 55.5 | 315 | 41.0 | <0.001* | 1.000 |
| Good | 221 | 45.6 | 92 | 32.5 | 313 | 40.8 | 0.42 (0.30–0.58) | |
| Fair | 76 | 15.7 | 27 | 9.5 | 103 | 13.4 | 0.36 (0.22–0.59) | |
| Poor | 30 | 6.2 | 7 | 2.5 | 37 | 4.8 | 0.23 (0.10–0.55) | |
| Seeking a second opinion | ||||||||
| Rarely® | 300 | 61.9 | 206 | 72.8 | 506 | 65.9 | 0.003* | 1.000 |
| Sometimes | 161 | 33.2 | 61 | 21.6 | 222 | 28.9 | 0.55 (0.39–0.78) | |
| Usually | 24 | 4.9 | 16 | 5.7 | 40 | 5.2 | 0.97 (0.50–1.87) | |
Notes: *Statistically significant at p-value ≤ 0.05; ®reference value.
Abbreviations: N, number; NHIF, National Health Insurance Fund; SDG, Sudanese pound; SD, standard deviation; C.I, confidence interval; IQR, interquartile range.