Research Article

Impact of Health Insurance on Health Care Utilisation and Out-of-Pocket Health Expenditure in Vietnam

Table 1

Definition of variables in evaluating the impact of HI on out-of-pocket expenditure.

VariablesDescription

Treatment status
 Participation in VHIWhether the household member participates in VHI (equals 1 if yes/0 if he or she does not participate in any HI programme)
 Participation in HSHI programmesWhether the household member participates in the HI programme for the poor, near-poor, policy beneficiaries such as meritorious people (equals 1 if yes/0 if he or she does not participate in any HI programmes)

Outcome variables
 Probability of having outpatient visitsProbability of visiting any of the health facilities for outpatient care by an individual in the last 12 months
 Probability of having inpatient visitsProbability of visiting any of the health facilities for inpatient care by an individual in the last 12 months
 Number of outpatient visitsNumber of outpatient visits by an individual at any of the health facilities in the last 12 months
 Number of inpatient visitsNumber of inpatient visits by an individual at any of the health facilities in the last 12 months
 Total visitsTotal number of visits in the last 12 months
 Number of visits at the district hospitalNumber of visits at district hospital by an individual in the last 12 months
 Number of visits at the provincial hospitalNumber of visits at the provincial hospital by an individual in the last 12 months
 Probability of having outpatient OOPProbability of making outpatient OOP by an individual in the last 12 months
 Probability of having inpatient OOPProbability of making inpatient OOP by an individual in the last 12 months
 Outpatient OOPOOP for outpatient care in the last 12 months
 Inpatient OOPOOP for inpatient admission in the last 12 months
 Total OOPOOP for outpatient and inpatient care in the last 12 months
 OOP per visit at the district hospitalOOP per visit at the district hospital in the last 12 months
 OOP per visit at the provincial hospitalOOP per visit at the provincial hospital in the last 12 months

Explanatory variables
 Age groupAge of household members/individual (ordinal variable) equals
  ≤301 if the individual belongs to the age group equal or below 30
  31–402 if the individual belongs to the age group 31–40
  41–503 if the individual belongs to the age group 41–50
  51–604 if the individual belongs to the age group 51–60
  ≥615 if the individual belongs to the age group equal to or above 60
 Gender (male)Gender of the individual (1 if male/0 if female)
 Ethnicity (Kinh and Hoa)Whether an individual belongs to ethnic Kinh/Hoa group (equals 1 if yes/0 if the individual belongs to a different ethnic minority group)
 Marital status (married)Marital status of the individual (1 if married/0 otherwise)
 Education levelThe education level of the individual (ordinal variable) equals
  Not completed primary school1 if the individual did not finish primary school
  Primary school2 if the individual completed primary school
  Lower secondary3 if the individual completed lower secondary school
  Upper secondary4 if the individual completed upper secondary school
  Vocational school5 if the individual completed vocational school
  College, university, master, PhD6 if the individual completed college, university, master, PhD
 Occupation statusOccupation status of the individual (categorical variable) equals
  Professionals/technicians1 if the individual works as a professional or technician
  Service or sales staff2 if the individual works as a service or sales staff
  Labourers in agriculture/forestry/fishery3 if the individual works in agriculture or forestry or fishery
  Manual labourers or machine operators4 if the individual works as a manual labourer or machine operator
  Unskilled workers5 if the individual works as an unskilled worker
  Others6 if the individual does other jobs/or is not in the labour force
  Household sizeTotal household members (continuous variable)
 Household composition
  Share of children below 6 yearsShare of children below 6 years in the household (continuous variable)
  Share of the elders above 60 yearsShare of the elders above 60 years in the household (continuous variable)
  Access to clear waterWhether the household has access to clean water (1 if yes/0 if no)
  Toilet accessWhether the household has access to a toilet (1 if yes/0 if no)
 Expenditure quintilesBased on household consumption expenditure data in the last 12 months, each individual in the household was ranked by their score. The ranking was then divided into five equal parts, from quintile one to quintile five. Each quintile group accounted for 20% of the sample. It is an ordinal variable and equals
  First expenditure quintile group (poorest)1 if the individual belongs to the first expenditure quintile (poorest)
  Second expenditure quintile group2 if the individual belongs to the second expenditure quintile
  Third expenditure quintile group3 if the individual belongs to the third expenditure quintile
  Fourth expenditure quintile group4 if the individual belongs to the fourth expenditure quintile
  Fifth expenditure quintile group (richest)5 if the individual belongs to the fifth expenditure quintile (richest)
  Number of motorcyclesThe number of motorcycles that household possesses (continuous variable)
  Number of telephonesThe number of telephones that household possesses (continuous variable)
  Number of radio, television, or computerThe number of radio, television, or computer that household possesses (continuous variable)
  Total residential area (m2)The total residential area that household has (continuous variable)
  Number of illness (times) in the last 12 monthsNumber of times that individual had an illness or severe injury in the last 12 months (continuous variable)
  Number of illness (days) in the last 12 monthsNumber of days that individual had an illness or severe injury in the last 12 months (continuous variable)
  Place of residence (urban)Whether an individual lives in an urban area (1 if yes/0 if he or she lives in a rural area)
 RegionThe region where individual lives (categorical variable). It equals
  Red River Delta1 if the individual lives in the Red River Delta region
  Northern Midlands and Mountains2 if the individual lives in the Northern Midlands and Mountains
  North and South Central Coast3 if the individual lives in North and South Central Coast
  Central Highlands4 if the individual lives in Central Highlands
  South East5 if the individual lives in South East
  Mekong River Delta6 if the individual lives in Mekong River Delta