Disparity in physician-patient communication by ethnicity: evidence from Bangladesh

Table 1 Respondents’ socio-economic characteristics by ethnicity (N = 850)

Variable (N = 850)	n	Bengali (%)	Ethnic Minority (%)	χ2	p
Gender				1.64	.200
Female	351	156 (39.0)	195 (43.3)
Male	499	244 (61.0)	255 (56.7)
Age (years)				3.27	.352
Up to 20	218	106 (26.5)	112 (24.9)
> 20–30	250	114 (28.5)	136 (30.2)
> 30–40	214	109 (27.3)	105 (23.3)
> 40	168	71 (17.8)	97 (21.6)
Education				8.04	.154
No education	228	110 (27.5)	118 (26.2)
Up to class 5	113	53 (13.3)	60 (13.3)
class > 5–8	131	69 (17.3)	62 (13.8)
class > 8–10	163	70 (17.5)	93 (20.7)
Class > 10–12	123	48 (12.0)	75 (16.7)
Class > 12	92	50 (12.5)	42 (9.3)
Occupation				18.52	.001
No job	170	81 (20.3)	89 (19.8)
Agriculture	220	88 (22.0)	132 (29.3)
Student	260	112 (28.0)	148 (32.9)
Service	95	57 (14.3)	38 (8.4)
Business	105	62 (15.5)	43 (9.6)
Monthly household income (BDT)				85.33	<.001
Up to 5000	165	35 (8.8)	130 (28.9)
> 5000–10,000	228	110 (27.5)	118 (26.2)
> 10,001–20,000	255	121 (30.3)	134 (29.8)
> 20,001–30,000	105	58 (14.5)	47 (10.4)
> 30,000	97	76 (19.0)	21 (4.7)
Internet use				0.05	.814
Yes	401	147 (46.8)	214 (47.6)
No	449	213 (53.3)	236 (52.4)

Columns against the categories of characteristics of each ethnic group sum to 100%. Chi-square (χ2) test was performed to depict the difference. BDT Bangladeshi Taka

ISSN: 1475-9276