Sample characteristics
| Total (n=20 601) | Group 1 (close)* (n=14 346) | Group 2 (distant)* (n=6255) | ||||
| n/mean† | %/SD† | n/mean† | %/SD† | n/mean† | %/SD† | |
| Sex | ||||||
| Male | 9824 | 47.7 | 6852 | 47.8 | 2972 | 47.5 |
| Female | 10 777 | 52.3 | 7494 | 52.2 | 3283 | 52.5 |
| Age† | 49.93 | 17.69 | 49.35 | 17.66 | 51.25 | 17.69 |
| Young (age<40 years) | 6089 | 29.6 | 4441 | 31.0 | 1648 | 26.3 |
| Middle (40–64 years) | 9437 | 45.8 | 6505 | 45.3 | 2932 | 46.9 |
| Old (age>64 years) | 5075 | 24.6 | 3400 | 23.7 | 1675 | 26.8 |
| Walking distance to GP | ||||||
| Less than 10 min | 8146 | 39.5 | 8146 | 56.8 | – | – |
| 10–20 min | 6200 | 30.1 | 6200 | 43.2 | – | – |
| More than 20 min | 2796 | 13.6 | – | – | 2796 | 44.7 |
| None in the area/not reachable | 3459 | 16.8 | – | – | 3459 | 55.3 |
| Area deprivation GIMD 2010 (quintiles) | ||||||
| Q1 least deprived | 4633 | 22.5 | 3429 | 23.9 | 1204 | 19.2 |
| Q2 | 4085 | 19.8 | 2792 | 19.5 | 1293 | 20.7 |
| Q3 | 3584 | 17.4 | 2389 | 16.7 | 1195 | 19.1 |
| Q4 | 4205 | 20.4 | 3080 | 21.5 | 1125 | 18.0 |
| Q5 most deprived | 4094 | 19.9 | 2656 | 18.5 | 1438 | 23.0 |
| Settlement structure | ||||||
| 1 city | 5138 | 24.9 | 4164 | 29.0 | 974 | 15.6 |
| 2 urban district | 6277 | 30.5 | 4444 | 31.0 | 1833 | 29.3 |
| 3 rural district with pop. concentration | 5679 | 27.6 | 3737 | 26.0 | 1942 | 31.0 |
| 4 rural district | 3507 | 17.0 | 2001 | 14.0 | 1506 | 24.1 |
| Children in household | ||||||
| Yes | 5570 | 27.0 | 4034 | 28.1 | 1536 | 24.6 |
| No | 15 031 | 73.0 | 10 312 | 71.9 | 4719 | 75.4 |
| German | ||||||
| Yes | 19 456 | 94.4 | 13 427 | 93.6 | 6029 | 96.4 |
| No | 1145 | 5.6 | 919 | 6.4 | 226 | 3.6 |
| Equivalent household disposable income (quintiles) | ||||||
| Q1 (high; >€32 564) | 4122 | 20.0 | 2932 | 20.4 | 1190 | 19.0 |
| Q2 (>€24 031–32 564) | 4119 | 20.0 | 2825 | 19.7 | 1294 | 20.7 |
| Q3 (>€18 552–24 031) | 4119 | 20.0 | 2793 | 19.5 | 1326 | 21.2 |
| Q4 (>€13 829–18 552) | 4121 | 20.0 | 2901 | 20.2 | 1220 | 19.5 |
| Q5 (low; ≤€13 829) | 4120 | 20.0 | 2895 | 20.2 | 1225 | 19.6 |
| Education‡ | ||||||
| Less than high school | 2843 | 14.4 | 2014 | 14.7 | 829 | 13.8 |
| High school | 12 343 | 62.5 | 8411 | 61.3 | 3932 | 65.3 |
| More than high school | 4559 | 23.1 | 3296 | 24.0 | 1263 | 21.0 |
| Health status‡ | ||||||
| Very good | 1841 | 9.0 | 1385 | 9.7 | 456 | 7.3 |
| Good | 8039 | 39.1 | 5761 | 40.3 | 2278 | 36.5 |
| Satisfactory | 6995 | 34.0 | 4767 | 33.3 | 2228 | 35.7 |
| Poor | 2882 | 14.0 | 1883 | 13.2 | 999 | 16.0 |
| Bad | 802 | 3.9 | 515 | 3.6 | 287 | 4.6 |
| Number of morbidities† | 0.79 | 1.01 | 0.76 | 0.99 | 0.87 | 1.05 |
| Concerns about own health‡ | ||||||
| Very concerned | 3765 | 18.3 | 2535 | 17.7 | 1230 | 19.8 |
| Somewhat concerned | 10 654 | 51.9 | 7376 | 51.6 | 3278 | 52.6 |
| Not concerned at all | 6116 | 29.8 | 4395 | 30.7 | 1721 | 27.6 |
| Type of health insurance‡ | ||||||
| Compulsory health ins. | 17 608 | 85.6 | 12 213 | 85.3 | 5395 | 86.4 |
| Private health ins. | 2958 | 14.4 | 2109 | 14.7 | 849 | 13.6 |
| Doctor visits (3 months)† | 2.62 | 3.86 | 2.56 | 3.77 | 2.75 | 4.05 |
Source: SOEP.v32, own calculations.
*Group 1: walking distance to GP less or equal 20 minutes, Group 2: walking distance to GP more than 20 minutes.
†continuous variable – mean and SD (standard deviation) reported in italics.
‡Missing values in total: education (n=856), health status (n=42), concerns about own health (n=66), and type of health insurance (n=35).
GIMD, German Index of Multiple Deprivation; ins., insurance; pop., population; Q, quintile.