Does health insurance contribute to improved utilization of health care services for the elderly in rural Tanzania? A cross-sectional study

Figures & data

Table 1. Health insurance ownership, health need and demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of participants, stratified by sex (N = 1899)

	Men	Women	Total (%)
Health Insurance
No	529 (56.88%)	529 (54.59%)	1,058 (55.71)
Yes	401 (43.12%)	440 (45.41%)	841 (44.29)
Need variables
Age
60–69	517 (55.59%)	594 (61.3%)	1,111 (58.5)
70–79	264 (28.39%)	242 (24.97%)	506 (26.65)
>79	149 (16.02%)	133 (13.73%)	282 (14.85)
Self-rated health
Good	283 (30.43%)	244 (25.18%)	527 (27.75)
Moderate	436 (46.88%)	484 (49.95%)	920 (48.45)
Bad	211 (22.69%)	241 (24.87%)	452 (23.8)
Diseases in the last three months
No disease	265 (28.49%)	268 (27.66%)	441 (28.07%)
Yes, 1 disease	471 (50.65%)	511 (52.73%)	982 (51.71%)
Yes, >1 disease	194 (20.86%)	190 (19.61%)	384 (20.22%)
Diseases in the last 12 months
No disease	627 (67.42%)	642 (66.25%)	1,269 (66.82%)
1 disease	228 (24.52%)	251 (25.9%)	479 (25.22%)
>1 disease	75 (8.06%)	76 (7.84%)	151 (7.95%)
Demographic and socioeconomic variables
Marital status
Married	569 (61.18%)	279 (28.79%)	848 (44.66)
Currently not married	361 (38.82%)	690 (71.21%)	1,051 (55.34)
Education
None	473 (50.81%)	654 (67.49%)	1,127 (59.35)
Low	204 (21.91%)	158 (16.32%)	362 (19.06)
Middle	219 (23.52%)	138 (14.26%)	357 (18.80)
High	35 (3.76%)	18 (1.86%)	53 (2.79)
Income
≤ 22.5 USD	629 (67.63%)	673 (69.45%)	1,302 (68.56)
> 22.5 USD	301 (32.37%)	296 (30.55%)	597 (31.44)
Outcome variables
Outpatient care used last 3 months
No	223 (23.98%)	218 (22.50%)	441 (23.22)
Yes	707 (76.02%)	751 (77.50%)	1,458 (76.78)
Inpatient care used last12 months
No	581 (62.47%)	574 (59.24%)	1,155 (60.82)
Yes	349 (37.53%)	395 (40.76%)	744 (39.18)

Table 2. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regressions of the association between HI and outpatient services (n = 1899)

	Model 0	Model 1	Model 2	Model 3
	OR (95% CI)	OR (95% CI)	OR (95% CI)	OR (95% CI)
Health Insurance	3.03 (2.38, 3.84)*	3.02 (2.06, 4.43)*	2.18 (1.53, 3.11)*	2.20 (1.54, 3.154)*
Sex
Men		1		1
Women		0.94 (0.69, 1.29)		0.97 (0.71, 1.34)
Age
60–69		1		1
70–79		0.88 (0.67, 1.15)		0.87 (0.66, 1.13)
>79		1.25 (0.90, 1.72)		1.10 (0.77, 1.57)
Marital status
Married		1		1
Currently not married		1.27 (0.91, 1.77)		1.34 (0.95, 1.90)
Education
None		1		1
Low		1.38 (0.94, 2.03)		1.31 (0.88, 1.96)
Middle		1.74 (1.15, 2.65)*		1.73 (1.12, 2.67)*
High		0.78 (0.49, 1.77)		0.85 (0.55, 1.31)
Income
≤ 22.50 USD		1		1
> 22.50 USD		1.40 (0.91, 2.17)		1.40 (0.89, 2.19)
Diseases in the last three months
No disease			1	1
1 disease			4.91 (3.16, 7.63)*	4.89 (3.112, 7.66)*
>1 disease			6.40 (2.35,17.45)*	6.27 (2.30, 17.11)*
Self-rated health
Good			1	1
Moderate			0.93 (0.65, 1.33)	0.94 (0.65, 1.35)
Bad			1.52 (0.86, 2.69)	1.51 (0.85, 2.70)

* p-value <0.05; OR: Odds Ratio; CI:-Confidence Interval

Table 3. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regressions of the association between HI and inpatient services (n = 1899)

	Model 0	Model 1	Model 2	Model 3
	OR (95% CI)	OR (95% CI)	OR (95% CI)	OR (95% CI)
Health Insurance	3.59 (2.76, 4.67)*	3.60 (2.74, 4.73)*	3.18 (2.46, 4.11)*	3.20 (2.46, 4.15)*
Sex
Men		1		1
Women		0.84 (0.67, 1.04)		0.83 (0.66, 1.04)
Age
60–69		1		1
70–79		0.96 (0.78, 1.18)		0.99 (0.80, 1.22)
>79		1.50 (1.17,1.92)*		1.47 (1.14, 1.90)*
Education
None		1		1
Low		1.17 (0.82, 1.67)		1.09 (0.76, 1.55)
Middle		1.04 (0.71, 1.53)		0.98 (0.67, 1.44)
High		0.76 (0.45, 1.29)		0.77 (0.45, 1.31)
Marital status
Married		1		1
Currently not married		0.87 (0.70, 1.09)		0.84 (0.67, 1.05)
Income
≤ 22.50 USD		1		1
> 22.50 USD		1.02 (0.70, 1.09)		0.98 (0.73, 1.32)
Diseases in the last 12 months
No disease			1	1
1 disease			2.66 (1.89, 3.75)*	2.66 (1.87, 3.77)*
>1 disease			3.02 (1.90, 4.81)*	2.97 (1.86, 4.73)*
Self-rated health
Good			1	1
Moderate			0.94 (0.72, 1.24)	0.92 (0.70, 1.21)
Bad			1.13 (0.80, 1.60)	1.10 (0.77, 1.56)

* p-value <0.05; OR: Odds Ratio; CI: Confidence Interval