Illness, precarity and marginalisation across the field sites
| Variable name | Chiang Rai n=625 | Salavan n=796 | Difference (χ2/z-scores)* | Variable description | ||
| Mean | 95% CI | Mean | 95% CI | |||
| Outcome variables | ||||||
| Access | 66% | 0.62 to 0.69 | 90% | 0.88 to 0.92 | 121.66*** | Binary variable: patient accessed any kind of informal/formal care (1=yes) |
| Antibiotic | 15% | 0.13 to 0.18 | 39% | 0.36 to 0.43 | 97.18*** | Binary variable: antibiotic use during illness (1=yes) |
| Inadvisable_Access | 28% | 0.25 to 0.32 | 38% | 0.35 to 0.42 | 14.73*** | Binary variable: formal healthcare access without indication or vice versa |
| Inadvisable_Antibiotic | 11% | 0.09 to 0.14 | 22% | 0.19 to 0.25 | 29.69*** | Binary variable: antibiotic use without indication or vice versa, or antibiotic use from informal sources |
| Clinical presentation | ||||||
| Sepsis | 57% | 0.53 to 0.61 | 71% | 0.67 to 0.74 | 28.50*** | Binary variable: presence of an infection |
| Respi | 56% | 0.52 to 0.59 | 73% | 0.70 to 0.76 | 45.02*** | Binary variable: respiratory presentation (incl. common cold) |
| Common_Cold | 34% | 0.31 to 0.38 | 38% | 0.35 to 0.42 | 2.17 | Binary variable: common cold |
| Fever | 20% | 0.17 to 0.23 | 30% | 0.27 to 0.33 | 16.83*** | Binary variable: fever |
| Neuro | 12% | 0.09 to 0.14 | 24% | 0.21 to 0.27 | 33.49*** | Binary variable: neurological presentation |
| Digest | 16% | 0.14 to 0.19 | 14% | 0.12 to 0.16 | 1.58 | Binary variable: digestive presentation |
| Uro_Gyneco | 1% | 0.00 to 0.02 | 2% | 0.01 to 0.03 | 0.80 | Binary variable: uro-gynaecological presentation |
| Trauma_Pain | 16% | 0.13 to 0.18 | 11% | 0.08 to 0.13 | 7.77*** | Binary variable: traumatism |
| Other | 07% | 0.05 to 0.09 | 3% | 0.02 to 0.04 | 10.97*** | Binary variable: other symptoms |
| Duration_Symptoms | 1.48 | 1.44 to 1.53 | 1.36 | 1.32 to 1.39 | 4.02*** | Categorical variable: duration of symptoms (1 =<7 days; 2=7–30 days; 3=>30 days) |
| Severity | 1.79 | 1.73 to 1.85 | 1.82 | 1.77 to 1.87 | −1.26 | Categorical variable: symptom severity grade (1=low; 2=moderate; 3=severe) |
| Frequency | 49% | 0.45 to 0.53 | 35% | 0.31 to 0.38 | 30.31*** | Binary variable: repeated illness of patient within 6 months (1=yes) |
| Other independent variables | ||||||
| Precarity_index | 0.39 | 0.38 to 0.41 | 0.34 | 0.33 to 0.35 | 5.86*** | Discrete variable: precarity index (composed of six individual indicators) |
| Marginalisation_index | 0.56 | 0.53 to 0.59 | 0.06 | 0.05 to 0.07 | 26.69*** | Discrete variable: marginalisation index (composed of three individual indicators) |
| Facilitation_index | 0.38 | 0.36 to 0.41 | 0.26 | 0.24 to 0.28 | 7.48*** | Discrete variable: facilitation index (composed of three individual indicators) |
| Control_adult | 20% | 0.17 to 0.23 | 38% | 0.35 to 0.41 | 55.68*** | Binary variable: illness of adult or child (0=adult, 1=<18 years) |
| Control_sex | 57% | 0.54 to 0.61 | 64% | 0.60 to 0.67 | 5.75** | Binary variable: sex of respondent (1=female) |
| Control_distance | 6.00 | 5.91 to 6.09 | 0.49 | 0.46 to 0.52 | 32.40*** | Continuous variable: distance to nearest formal healthcare provider (km) |
Illness-level data, including only completed illnesses experienced by respondent or a child under their supervision. Unweighted statistics.
Source: authors, based on survey data.
Χ2 test scores for binary variables and z-scores for Wilcoxon rank-sum tests for other non-normally distributed variables (Duration_Symptoms, Severity, Precarity_index, Marginalisation_index, Facilitation_index and Control_distance).
*p<0.10, **p<0.05, ***p<0.01.