Access to primary care for socio-economically disadvantaged older people in rural areas: exploring realist theory using structural equation modelling in a linked dataset

Table 3 Baseline characteristics of included participants (n = 276)

Variable		Number	Percent
Female		169	61.2
Age	50–54 years	11	4.0
	55–59 years	27	7.8
	60–64 years	57	20.9
	70–74 years	65	23.6
	75–79 years	47	17.0
	80+ years	35	12.0
	Not available	1	0.4
Educational attainment	No qualification	99	35.9
	CSE or equivalent	24	8.7
	GCE O level or equivalent	63	22.8
	GCE A level or equivalent	22	8.0
	Higher education below degree	36	13.0
	Degree or equivalent	13	4.7
	Not available	19	6.9
Occupation	Routine occupations	74	26.8
	Semi-routine occupations	134	48.6
	Lower supervisory and technical occupations	63	22.8
	Small employers and own account workers	3	1.1
	Not available	2	0.7
Use of public transport	Every day or nearly every day	11	4.0
	Two or three times a week	26	9.4
	Once a week	19	6.9
	Two or three times a month	24	8.7
	Once a month or less	83	30.1
	Never	113	40.9
Road travel time to GP surgery (minutes)		4.80^a	2.76 to 7.88^b
Frequency of lifts from family or friends not living with them	Every day or nearly every day	1	0.4
	Two or three times a week	17	6.2
	Once a week	22	8.0
	Two or three times a month	17	6.2
	Once a month or less	25	9.1
	Never	194	70.3
Frequency of internet or email use	Every day or almost every day	80	29.0
	At least once a week (but not every day)	42	15.2
	At least once a month (but not every week)	11	4.0
	At least once every 3 months (but not every month)	4	1.5
	Less than every 3 months	6	2.2
	Never	112	40.6
	Not available	2	7.6
Questions answered correctly in health literacy tests	0	1	0.4
	1	9	3.3
	2	17	6.2
	3	45	16.3
	4	180	65.2
	Not available	24	8.7

n number, SD standard deviation, GCE General Certificate of Education, CSE Certificate of Secondary Education
^a median
^b interquartile range

ISSN: 1471-2288