What causes high costs for rural tuberculosis inpatients? Evidence from five counties in China

BMC Infectious Diseases

Table 3 Characteristics and hospitalization costs (USD) of tuberculosis inpatients⁺

	Number of inpatients (n)	Percentage (%)	Median of total costs	Median of OOP expenditures
Sex
male	1883	59.53	821.70	290.07
female	1280	40.47	816.21	320.71
Age			***	***
< 15	181	5.72	1029.85	443.43
15–44	939	29.69	869.78	340.01
45–59	685	21.66	811.06	308.23
60–74	949	30.00	773.28	261.21
≥ 75	409	12.93	832.14	280.94
County			***	***
Dangyang	766	24.22	746.22	256.06
Dingyuan	568	17.96	1087.53	372.29
Funan	998	31.55	993.36	410.50
Huining	725	22.92	592.73	168.10
Weiyuan	106	3.35	649.99	237.54
Length of stay			***	***
< 5	470	14.86	693.35	313.38
5–7	541	17.10	738.10	287.75
8–10	508	16.06	733.25	257.46
> 10	1644	51.98	891.52	319.73
Provincial attribute			***	***
Ext provincial	283	8.95	1396.39	723.47
Provincial	2880	91.05	790.27	278.10
Institution level			***	***
County hospitals	1682	53.18	637.89	169.94
Tertiary hospitals	1481	46.82	1278.24	632.56
Ownership of hospitals			**
Public	3124	98.77	822.40	301.69
Private	39	1.23	573.29	263.65
Functional attribute			***	***
Specialized	573	18.12	1548.37	813.59
General	2590	81.88	742.97	258.58
Family attribute				**
Poor	117	3.70	748.13	254.46
General	3046	96.30	823.01	304.01

⁺① Note: *p < 0.1; **p < 0.05; ***p < 0.001
② Explanations of the variables:
Family attributes: the “poor” family or the “general” family assessed by the local government on the basis of the family’s economic situation)
Ownership of hospitals: “Public” medical institutions are invested and managed by the government, while the “private” are generally invested by enterprises and supervised by the government
Functional attribute: “Specialized” hospitals generally have certain limits on the range of diseases admitted, while the “general” hospitals do not limit the types of patients and diseases
Provincial attribute: The “provincial” inpatients get medical services within the province of residence, while the “Ext provincial” get medical services out of the province of residence

ISSN: 1471-2334