Table 2.
Characteristics of people with B12 deficiency including self-medication status/safety, type of diagnosis (B12 versus pernicious anaemia), general health status, and health literacy levels
| Variable | Diagnosis, n (%) | χ2-test (P-value)a | Paired t-testb (P-value) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| ||||
| Vitamin B12 deficiency | Pernicious anaemia | |||
| Health status | ||||
| Good/excellent | 207 (16.0) | 181 (14.0) | 1.518 (0.218) | — |
| Fair/poor | 451 (34.7) | 458 (35.3) | — | — |
|
| ||||
| Health literacy (self-assessed) | ||||
| Always/often | 24 (1.9) | 20 (1.5) | 1.761 (0.624) | — |
| Sometimes | 63 (4.9) | 71 (5.5) | — | — |
| Rarely | 73 (5.6) | 61 (4.7) | — | — |
| Never | 498 (38.3) | 487 (37.5) | — | — |
|
| ||||
| Country of residence (region) | ||||
| East Midlands | 36 (3.5) | 31 (3) | 15.839 (0.147) | — |
| Ireland | 12 (0.9) | 9 (0.7) | — | — |
| London | 15 (1.4) | 22 (2.1) | — | — |
| North East | 19 (1.8) | 38 (3.7) | — | — |
| North West | 96 (9.2) | 101 (9.7) | — | — |
| Northern Ireland | 17 (1.3) | 7 (0.7) | — | — |
| Scotland | 16 (1.5) | 25 (2.4) | — | — |
| South East | 87 (8.4) | 78 (7.5) | — | — |
| South West | 76 (7.3) | 54 (5.2) | — | — |
| Wales | 137 (10.6) | 66 (6.3) | — | — |
| West Midlands | 31 (3) | 38 (3.7) | — | — |
| Yorkshire/Humberside | 44 (4.2) | 44 (4.2) | — | — |
|
| ||||
| Self-medication | ||||
| Yes | 435 (33.5) | 368 (28.3) | 9.997 (0.002 ) | — |
| No | 222 (17.1) | 270 (20.8) | — | — |
|
| ||||
| Self-medication via injection | ||||
| Yes | 279 (21.5) | 229 (17.7) | 5.862 (0.016 ) | — |
| No | 379 (29.2) | 410 (31.6) | — | — |
|
| ||||
| PC PMOS total | — | — | — | −17.42 (0.071) |
a
Pearson’s χ2 test for all factors. Bold text denotes significance at the 0.05 level.
b
Paired t-test with 1298 degrees of freedom. PC PMOS = Primary Care Patient Measure of Safety.