Factors Related to Hospital Inpatients among the Poor in Indonesia

Abstract

Background: The poor are vulnerable when they fall seriously ill and require hospitalization. The study aimed to analyze the factors related to hospital inpatients among the poor in Indonesia.

Methods: We analysed the 2018 Indonesian Basic Health Survey data. This cross-sectional study examined 233778 respondents through stratification and multistage random sampling. We used seven independent variables age, gender, marital status, education, employment, and health insurance, in addition to the hospital inpatient, as a dependent variable. We employed binary logistic regression to evaluate the data.

Results: The poor in urban areas were 1.315 times more likely to be hospital inpatients than those in rural areas (95%CI 1.249-1.385). Age, gender, and marital status were related to the hospital inpatients. The better the education level, the higher the hospital inpatient proportion. Meanwhile, the employed were 40% less likely than the unemployed to be hospital inpatients (95%CI 0.565-0.634). Furthermore, the insured were 3.513 times more likely than the uninsured to be hospital inpatients (95%CI 3.264-3.780).

Conclusion: Seven variables were related to hospital inpatients among the poor in Indonesia: residence, age, gender, marital status, education, employment, and health insurance. Health insurance was the main factor associated with hospital inpatients among low-income people. The government must increase the subsidy quota for the poor's participation in National Health Insurance.