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Table 2 Characteristics of inpatients at four rural health centers in Kigoma, Tanzania over a four month period1 (n = 2578 2)

From: Equity of inpatient health care in rural Tanzania: a population- and facility-based survey

 

All admissions (n = 2578)

Pediatric admissions 3,* (n = 485)

Obstetric admissions 4 (n = 823)

Other adult admissions* (n = 806)

Fee-exempt admissions* (n = 1241)

 

n

(%)

N

(%)

n

(%)

n

(%)

n

(%)

Age

          

   < 5

485*

(24.2)

485

(100.0)

0

(0.0)

0

(0.0)

485

(39.2)

   5-17

149*

(7.4)

0

(0.0)

39

(4.8)

116

(14.5)

34

(2.8)

   18-25

591*

(29.5)

0

(0.0)

399

(48.7)

238

(29.8)

351

(28.4)

   26-35

462*

(23.1)

0

(0.0)

296

(36.1)

208

(26.0)

249

(20.1)

   > 35

317*

(15.8)

0

(0.0)

85

(10.4)

238

(29.8)

119

(9.6)

Female

2023

(78.7)

266

(55.0)

823

(100.0)

585

(72.8)

1000

(80.7)

Currently married 5

828*

(57.8)

0

(0.0)

499

(61.3)

402

(55.8)

447

(59.9)

No schooling 6

370*

(25.2)

0

(0.0)

174

(21.9)

209

(27.3)

187

(25.4)

Very good or good health status

2078

(81.0)

402

(84.3)

717

(87.4)

819

(76.3)

1044

(84.9)

Transportation to clinic

         

   walked

1292

(50.3)

251

(51.9)

411

(50.0)

282

(35.2)

585

(47.2)

   biked

810

(31.5)

158

(32.6)

254

(30.9)

317

(39.6)

423

(34.1)

Reason for admission

          

   Malaria

985

(39.3)

280

(60.0)

0

(0.0)

415

(54.3)

292

(23.7)

   Delivery

802

(32.0)

0

(0.0)

773

(93.9)

0

(0.0)

4

(0.3)

   Respiratory infection

242

(9.7)

93

(19.9)

0

(0.0)

101

(13.2)

106

(8.6)

   Diarrhea/dysentery

130

(5.2)

57

(12.2)

0

(0.0)

24

(3.1)

57

(4.6)

   Accident/injury

82

(3.3)

5

(1.1)

0

(0.0)

70

(9.2)

6

(0.5)

   Acute abdominal pain

61

(2.4)

2

(0.4)

0

(0.0)

45

(5.9)

3

(0.2)

   Abortion

24

(1)

0

(0.0)

24

(2.9)

0

(0.0)

21

(1.7)

   Anemia

28

(1.1)

9

(1.9)

0

(0.0)

15

(2)

9

(0.7)

   Post-delivery complication

27

(1.1)

1

(0.2)

26

(3.2)

0

(0.0)

7

(0.6)

   Poison/snake bite

13

(0.5)

3

(0.6)

0

(0.0)

8

(1.1)

3

(0.2)

   Hypertension

8

(0.3)

0

(0.0)

0

(0.0)

6

(0.8)

1

(0.1)

   Fever of unknown origin

8

(0.3)

2

(0.4)

0

(0.0)

5

(0.7)

3

(0.2)

   Measles

12

(0.5)

0

(0.0)

0

(0.0)

12

(1.6)

0

(0.0)

   HIV/AIDS

7

(0.3)

0

(0.0)

0

(0.0)

6

(0.8)

679

(55.2)

   Tuberculosis

4

(0.2)

0

(0.0)

0

(0.0)

4

(0.5)

23

(1.9)

   Asthma

4

(0.2)

0

(0.0)

0

(0.0)

4

(0.5)

0

(0.0)

   Urinary tract infection

4

(0.2)

2

(0.4)

0

(0.0)

0

(0.0)

2

(0.16)

   Other

68

(2.7)

13

(2.7)

0

(0.0)

49

(6.4)

15

(1.22)

  1. *Data for health center Bitale was omitted because one interviewer recorded the age of the parent instead of the child for pediatric admissions
  2. 1 Data was collected in May 2008, September 2008, January 2009, and May 2009.
  3. 2 Totals may not equal 2578 due to missing values.
  4. 3 Inpatients classified as pediatric admissions were under the age of 5.
  5. 4 Inpatients classified as obstetric admissions were admitted for delivery, post-delivery complications, or post-abortion complications.
  6. 5 Marital status was determined for females 15 years and older and for males 18 years and older.
  7. 6 No schooling was determined for patients 7 years and older.
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International Journal for Equity in Health

ISSN: 1475-9276

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