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Table 5 Factors associated with utilization of outpatient and inpatient care among civil servants in South Africa

From: Social health insurance contributes to universal coverage in South Africa, but generates inequities: survey among members of a government employee insurance scheme

Variables

Any outpatient services in the last month

Any inpatient admission in past year

Univariate OR

(95%CI)

Multivariate OR

(95%CI)

Univariate OR (95%CI)

Multivariate OR (95%CI)

Age (years)

 20–34

1.0

1.0

1.0

1.0

 35–49

1.24 (0.94–1.64)

0.88 (0.63–1.23)

1.32 (0.84–2.06)

1.06 (0.66–1.72)

 50–69

1.61 (1.17–2.23)

1.05 (0.70–1.56)

1.41 (0.85–2.35)

1.06 (0.60–1.88)

Gender

 Male

1.0

1.0

1.0

1.0

 Female

1.64 (1.31–2.04)

1.52 (1.18–1.95)*

1.96 (1.36–2.81)

1.82 (1.24–2.68)*

Race

 Black

1.0

1.0

1.0

1.0

 Coloured

1.42 (1.07–1.88)

1.32 (0.84–2.07)

0.82 (0.52–1.29)

1.26 (1.23–2.68)*

 Indian

1.39 (0.87–2.22)

1.22 (0.73–2.06)

1.45 (0.77–2.72)

1.25 (0.63–2.46)

 White

1.51 (1.05–2.19)

1.37 (0.87–2.14)

1.06 (0.61–1.84)

1.19 (0.63–2.24)

Marital status

 Married

1.0

1.0

1.0

–

 Divorced, widow or separated

1.28 (0.90–1.82)

1.18 (0.80–1.73)

1.35 (0.82–2.21)

 

 Single

1.01 (0.79–1.29)

1.30 (0.97–1.75)*

0.89 (0.61–1.31)

 

Province

 Western Cape

1.0

1.0

1.0

1.0

 KwaZulu Natal

0.64 (0.47–0.87)

0.71 (0.45–1.12)

1.45 (0.88–2.37)

1.52 (0.76–3.03)

 North West

0.77 (0.57–1.04)

0.73 (0.47–1.14)

1.52 (0.94–2.47)

1.49 (0.76–2.91)

 Gauteng

0.74 (0.55–1.00)

0.83 (0.53–1.29)

1.43 (0.88–2.32)

1.49 (0.76–2.92)

Sector

 Health

1.0

1.0

1.0

–

 Education

1.49 (1.19–1.87)

1.41 (1.08–1.85)*

1.09 (0.77–1.54)

 

Salary grade

 Lower-skilled

1.0

1.0

1.0

1.0

 Skilled

0.74 (0.50–1.11)

0.63 (0.40–0.98)*

1.23 (0.66–2.32)

1.15 (0.59–2.27)

 Highly skilled

1.21 (0.87–1.70)

0.89 (0.59–1.33)

1.20 (0.69–2.08)

1.07 (0.58–1.99)

 Management

1.38 (0.92–2.08)

0.93 (0.57–1.51)

1.53 (0.81–2.89)

1.49 (0.73–3.03)

Overall health status

 Excellent

1.0

1.0

1.0

1.0

 Good

1.64 (1.24–2.16)

1.61 (1.20–2.17)*

1.37 (0.84–2.24)

1.30 (0.79–2.16)

 Average

2.54 (1.86–3.48)

2.90 (2.04–4.12)*

2.78 (1.69–4.57)*

2.64 (1.55–4.50)*

 Poor or very poor

3.73 (1.75–7.92)

4.04 (1.79–9.08)*

5.88 (2.56–13.49)

5.51 (2.27–13.34)*

Insurance status

 GEMS

1.0

1.0

1.0

1.0

 Private medical schemes

1.08 (0.84–1.39)

1.00 (0.76–1.32)

1.04 (0.72–1.49)

1.00 (0.68–1.48)

 Uninsured

0.35 (0.96–1.42)

0.35 (0.25–0.48)*

0.38 (0.22–0.65)

0.43 (0.25–0.75)*

  1. *p < 0.05 in multivariate analysis; OR odds ratio; Divorced/widow category includes those separated. Multivariate analysis done with logistic regression models