Table 4

Principal reasons for healthcare users’ first contact health facilities in urban and rural Jilin, China, 2008 and 2018, by type of healthcare providers

Reason	Urban				Rural				P values*
	PHC facilities		Secondary or tertiary hospitals		PHC facilities		Secondary or tertiary hospitals		P values*
	Number of patients	%	Number of patients	%	Number of patients	%	Number of patients	%
Transportation or travelling convenience	178	59.16	143	33.65	770	65.03	78	17.27	0.001
Perceived better service quality	31	10.17	170	39.08	122	9.64	239	52.22
Good relationship with staff in the facility	52	18.05	11	13.46	131	10.11	20	12.88
Reasonable cost	27	8.79	56	2.71	83	7.37	64	4.72
Health scheme designated facility	7	2.23	31	6.27	64	7.15	29	6.50
Other reasons	6	1.60	19	4.83	9	0.70	27	6.40
P values†	＜0.001				＜0.001

Data of principal reasons for patients’ first contact health facilities for outpatient care were only available in 2008 and 2018.
PHC facilitiesincluding community health centres and stations, township hospitals, village health centres and other clinics.
Data were weighted to yield provincially representative estimates.
*Chi-square test for difference between urban and rural settings (χ²=20.07, df=6).
†Chi-square test for difference between PHC facilities, and secondary or tertiary hospitals (urban: χ²=109.39, df=6; rural: χ²=456.65, df=6). P value of 0.001 as a cut-off point.
PHC, primary healthcare.