Care-seeking behaviour and socio-economic burden associated with uncomplicated malaria in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Table 1 Baseline socio-economical characteristics of patients with uncomplicated malaria in the DRC

Characteristics	Rural area		Urban area		Total		p-value
	n = 688		n = 392		n = 1080
	n	%	n	%	n	%
Gender							0.509
Female	358	52	195	49.7	553	51.2
Male	330	48	197	50.3	527	48.8
Education level (n = 257; age ≥ 18 years)							0.163
No education	31	14.6	7	9.3	38	13.2
Primary level	36	17	8	10.7	44	15.3
High school level	117	55.2	44	58.7	161	56.1
College or University level	28	13.2	16	21.3	44	15.3
Age group (years)^a							< 0.001
[0–5]	244	35.5	146	37.2	390	36.1
[5–15]	187	27.2	152	38.8	339	31.4
≥ 15	257	37.4	94	24	351	32.5
Socio-economic index quintile							< 0.001
Quintile 1 "most economically disadvantaged"	163	23.7	56	14.3	219	20.3
Quintile 2 "very economically disadvantaged"	94	13.7	125	31.9	219	20.3
Quintile 3 "economically disadvantaged"	151	21.9	65	16.6	216	20
Quintile 4 "less economically disadvantaged"	151	21.9	68	17.3	219	20.3
Quintile 5 "least economically disadvantaged"	129	18.8	78	19.9	207	19.2
Health insurance status							< 0.001
Yes	32	4.7	152	38.8	184	17.1
No	656	95.3	240	61.2	896	82.9
Type of healthcare facility							< 0.001
Conventional	255	37.1	192	49.0	447	41.4
Private for-profit	433	62.9	200	51.0	633	58.6

^aAverage ages of patients in rural and urban areas were 14.9 ± 14.9 and 11.0 ± 12.1 years old, respectively (p < 0.001)

ISSN: 1475-2875