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Table 4 Moderating effects of Urban-Rural status on the association between internet use and healthcare utilization for older adults

From: Internet use and healthcare utilization among older adults in China: a nationally representative cross-sectional study

Variables

Outpatient care utilization

Outpatient care in hospitals a

Self-medication a

Hospital admission

Number of hospital admissions

OR (95% CI)

RRR (95% CI)

RRR (95% CI)

OR (95% CI)

IRR (95% CI)

Internet use (vs. no)

1.38 (1.21, 1.58) *

1.17 (0.95, 1.44)

0.77 (0.67, 0.89) *

0.54 (0.46, 0.64) *

0.69 (0.58, 0.82) *

Internet use * rural

0.47 (0.38, 0.58) *

0.84 (0.53, 1.35)

1.99 (1.59, 2.49) *

1.53 (1.17, 2.00) *

1.46 (1.16, 1.84) *

Rural (vs. urban)

1.06 (0.96, 1.18)

0.51 (0.41, 0.62) *

0.85 (0.76, 0.95) *

0.86 (0.76, 0.98) *

1.04 (0.92, 1.16)

Covariates

     

 Male (vs. female)

0.95 (0.88, 1.02)

0.89 (0.76, 1.03)

1.04 (0.95, 1.12)

1.08 (0.99, 1.19)

1.08 (0.98, 1.18)

 Age

1.00 (1.00, 1.01)

1.01 (1.00, 1.03) *

1.00 (0.99, 1.01)

1.02 (1.01, 1.03) *

1.00 (1.00, 1.01)

 Education in years

0.99 (0.98, 1.00)

1.06 (1.04, 1.08) *

1.02 (1.01, 1.03) *

1.00 (0.98, 1.01)

1.02 (1.00, 1.03) *

 Married (vs. unmarried)

1.10 (1.00, 1.20) *

0.97 (0.82, 1.15)

0.91 (0.83, 1.00) *

0.93 (0.84, 1.03)

0.96 (0.87, 1.05)

 Employed (vs. retired/unemployed)

0.77 (0.70, 0.85) *

1.06 (0.86, 1.31)

1.32 (1.19, 1.46) *

0.94 (0.83, 1.05)

1.13 (1.00, 1.27)

 Financially independent (vs. family support/public assistance)

0.93 (0.86, 1.02)

1.08 (0.91, 1.28)

1.09 (0.99, 1.19)

0.94 (0.86, 1.04)

1.07 (0.97, 1.18)

 Has family wealth (vs. No family wealth)

0.89 (0.82, 0.97) *

1.40 (1.19, 1.65) *

1.18 (1.08, 1.28) *

1.05 (0.96, 1.16)

1.09 (0.99, 1.19)

 Self-reported good health status (vs. fair/poor)

1.18 (1.09, 1.28) *

1.11 (0.95, 1.28)

0.86 (0.79, 0.93) *

0.70 (0.64, 0.77) *

0.83 (0.75, 0.92) *

 BMI within normal range (vs. no)

0.84 (0.78, 0.91) *

0.95 (0.82, 1.11)

1.18 (1.08, 1.28) *

0.91 (0.82, 1.00) *

1.06 (0.97, 1.16)

 Number of chronic diseases

1.08 (1.05, 1.11) *

1.06 (1.02, 1.11) *

0.94 (0.91, 0.96) *

1.41 (1.36, 1.45) *

1.09 (1.07, 1.12) *

 ADL score

0.95 (0.91, 0.99) *

0.93 (0.87, 1.00) *

1.04 (1.00, 1.09)

0.81 (0.77, 0.85) *

0.93 (0.90, 0.95) *

 Cognition score

0.98 (0.97, 0.99) *

1.01 (0.98, 1.03)

1.02 (1.01, 1.03) *

0.97 (0.96, 0.99) *

0.98 (0.96, 0.99) *

 Local number of physicians per 1,000 population

0.96 (0.93, 1.00) *

1.10 (1.04, 1.17) *

1.06 (1.02, 1.09) *

0.99 (0.95, 1.03)

0.98 (0.94, 1.02)

  1. Note: a Base outcome: Outpatient care in primary healthcare facilities. OR, odds ratio. CI, confidence interval. RRR, relative-risk ratio. IRR, incidence rate ratio. BMI, body mass index. ADL, activity of daily living. * p-value < 0.05
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