Table 3

Logistic regression analysis of downward referral

Parameter	Estimate*	p Value†	OR‡	95% Wald CI§
Parameter	Estimate*	p Value†	OR‡	Lower limit	Upper limit
Part I: logistic regression analysis of doctors’ willingness of downward referral
Attitudes towards workload affected by downward referral	0.963	<0.0001	2.620	1.725	3.979
Understanding of the limitations of health resources in hospitals
Cannot understand	−1.471	0.012	0.230	0.073	0.725
Understand a little	0.306	0.449	1.358	0.615	2.997
Moderate	0.326	0.167	1.385	0.872	2.201
Partly understand	0.691	0.004	1.996	1.244	3.203
Fully understand	ref	ref	ref	ref	ref
Level of education
Junior college degree	−1.353	0.114	0.258	0.048	1.381
Bachelor's degree	−1.018	0.0002	0.361	0.213	0.614
Master's degree	−0.605	0.017	0.546	0.332	0.899
Doctor's degree	ref	ref	ref	ref	ref
Part II: logistic regression analysis of patients’ willingness of downward referral
Cost-saving of downward referral	1.090	<0.0001	2.976	2.011	4.402
Recognition of the community first treatment system
Cannot recognise	−0.232	0.691	0.793	0.254	2.479
Recognise a little	−0.413	0.428	0.662	0.239	1.836
Moderate	0.123	0.804	1.131	0.427	2.999
Partly recognise	0.628	0.229	1.874	0.673	5.214
Completely recognise	ref	ref	ref	ref	ref
Marital status
Divorced/widowed	−0.452	0.228	0.636	0.305	1.326
Married	−0.393	0.020	0.675	0.485	0.940
Single	ref	ref	ref	ref	ref
Medical insurance	−0.494	0.096	0.610	0.340	1.097

*Estimate is the regression coefficient.
†p Value<0.05 is considered statistically significant.
‡OR is a frequently used indicator for measuring the effect of independent variable on the response variable.
§Ninety-five per cent Wald CI is a range of interval estimation for OR, and the confidence level is determined as 95%. The CI for OR is a range limited by the confidence limit, of which, the minimal value is called lower limit, and the maximal value is called upper limit.