Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of patients, by antibiotic expectation and antibiotic receipt.
| Antibiotic expectation |
Antibiotic receipt |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baseline characteristics of respondents, n(%) | All patients (N=681) |
Expecting antibiotics (N=211) |
Did not expect antibiotics (N=470) |
P value | Prescribed antibiotics (N=59) |
Was not prescribed antibiotics (N=622) |
P value |
| Demographics | n(%) | n(%) | n(%) | n(%) | n(%) | ||
| Age, mean (SD) | 34.5 (12.7) | 33.6 (12.3) | 34.6 (12.9) | 0.228a | 34.2 (13.3) | 34.3 (12.7) | 0.113a |
| Male sex | 339 (49.8%) | 109 (51.7 %) | 230 (48.9%) | 0.566 | 25 (42.4%) | 314 (50.5%) | 0.292 |
| Race | |||||||
| Chinese | 314 (46.1%) | 92 (43.6 %) | 222 (47.2%) | 0.572 | 31 (52.5%) | 283 (45.5%) | 0.306 |
| Malay | 174 (25.6%) | 61 (28.9 %) | 113 (24.0%) | 9 (15.3%) | 165 (26.5%) | ||
| Indian | 114 (16.7%) | 33 (15.6 %) | 81 (17. %) | 11 (18.6%) | 103 (16.6 %) | ||
| Other races | 79 (11.6%) | 25 (11.9 %) | 54 (11.5%) | 8 (13.6%) | 71 (11.4%) | ||
| Nationality | |||||||
| Singaporean | 498 (73.1%) | 157 (74.4 %) | 341 (72.6%) | 0.550 | 40 (67.8%) | 458 (73.6%) | 0.550 |
| Permanent resident | 68 (10.0%) | 23 (10.9 %) | 45 (9.6%) | 8 (13.6%) | 60 (9.7 %) | ||
| Others | 115 (16.9%) | 31 (14.7 %) | 84 (17.9%) | 11 (18.6%) | 104 (16.7%) | ||
| Tertiary education | 224 (32.9%) | 56 (26.5 %) | 168 (35.7%) | 0.023b | 21 (35.6%) | 203 (32.6%) | 0.751 |
| Health status | |||||||
| Having a fever during the visit | 248 (36.4%) | 82 (38.9%) | 166 (35.3%) | 0.422 | 26 (44.1%) | 222 (35.7%) | 0.256 |
| Smoker | 149 (21.9%) | 49 (23.2%) | 100 (21.3%) | 0.640 | 12 (20.3%) | 137 (22.0%) | 0.893 |
| Charlson comorbidity severity | |||||||
| No comorbidity | 621 (91.2%) | 196 (92.9%) | 425 (90.4%) | 0.663c | 51 (86.4%) | 570 (91.6%) | 0.139c |
| Mild | 52 (7.6%) | 13 (6.2%) | 39 (8.3%) | 6 (10.2%) | 46 (7.4%) | ||
| Moderate/Severe | 8 (1.2%) | 2 (2.0%) | 6 (1.3%) | 2 (3.4%) | 6 (1.0%) | ||
| Influenza vaccinated (within 12 months) | 257 (37.7%) | 68 (32.2%) | 189 (40.2%) | 0.057 | 18 (30.5%) | 239 (38.4%) | 0.290 |
| Pneumonia vaccinated | 59 (8.7%) | 15 (7.1%) | 44 (9.4%) | 0.413 | 3 (5.1%) | 56 (9.0%) | 0.435c |
| COVID-19 vaccinated (2 doses) | 362 (53.2%) | 107 (50.7%) | 255 (54.3%) | 0.439 | 25 (42.4%) | 337 (54.2%) | 0.109 |
| Health seeking behaviour | |||||||
| Prior (non-ED) consult for same condition | |||||||
| No prior consult | 474 (69.6%) | 124 (58.8%) | 350 (74.5%) | <0.001d | 30 (50.9%) | 444 (71.4%) | <0.001d |
| Prior consult with antibiotics | 44 (6.5%) | 31 (14.7%) | 13 (2.8%) | 12 (20.3%) | 32 (5.14%) | ||
| Prior consult w/o antibiotics | 163 (23.9%) | 56 (26.5%) | 107 (22.8%) | 17 (28.8%) | 146 (23.5%) | ||
| Expects a COVID-19 test | 534 (78.4%) | 171 (81.0%) | 363 (77.2%) | 0.309 | 41 (69.5%) | 493 (79.3%) | 0.115 |
| Payment method | (n=676) | (n=208) | (n=468) | (n=57) | (n=619) | ||
| Employee benefits | 404 (59.8%) | 111 (53.4%) | 293 (62.6%) | 0.123 | 26 (45.6%) | 183 (29.6%) | 0.086c |
| Government/private insurance | 54 (8.0%) | 19 (9.1%) | 35 (7.5%) | 26 (45.6%) | 378 (61.1%) | ||
| Out-of-pocket | 209 (30.9%) | 74 (35.6%) | 135 (28.9%) | 4 (7.0%) | 50 (8.1%) | ||
| Social subsidies | 9 (1.3%) | 4 (1.9%) | 5 (1.1%) | 1 (1.8%) | 8 (1.3%) | ||
| Antibiotics use | |||||||
| Knowledge on antibiotics | |||||||
| Poor (Score ≤ 4) | 276 (40.5%) | 90 (42.7%) | 186 (39.57 %) | 0.002b | 20 (33.9%) | 256 (41.2%) | 0.261 |
| Moderate (Score 5-7) | 278 (40.8%) | 98 (46.5%) | 180 (38.3 %) | 30 (50.9%) | 248 (39.9%) | ||
| Good (Score ≥ 8) | 127 (18.6%) | 23 (10.9%) | 104 (22.13 %) | 9 (15.3%) | 118 (19.0%) | ||
| Expected antibiotics | 211 (30.1%) | - | - | 46 (78.0%) | 165 (26.5%) | <0.001d | |
a
Kruskal-Wallis test.
b
P < 0.05.
c
Fisher's exact test.
d
P < 0.001.