Table 1 Sample characteristics of participants with and without gatekeeping before and after PSM
| Â | Before Matching | After Matching | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Non-gatekeeping N (%) | Gatekeeping N (%) | Total, N (%) | P | Non-gatekeeping N (%) | Gatekeeping N (%) | Total N (%) | P | |
Sample size | 356 (46.5) | 409 (53.5) | 765 (100) | Â | 238 (50) | 238 (50) | 476 (100) | Â |
Cities | ||||||||
 Dongguan | 135 (37.9) | 264 (64.5) | 399 (52.2) | < 0.001 | 124 (52.1) | 118 (49.6) | 242 (50.8) | 0.647 |
 Shenzhen | 221 (62.1) | 145 (35.5) | 366 (47.8) |  | 114 (47.9) | 120 (50.4) | 234 (49.2) |  |
Gender | ||||||||
 Male | 114 (32.0) | 207 (50.6) | 321 (42.0) | < 0.001 | 99 (41.6) | 92 (38.7) | 191 (40.1) | 0.575 |
 Female | 242 (68.0) | 202 (49.4) | 444 (58.0) |  | 139 (58.4) | 146 (61.3) | 285 (59.9) |  |
Age | Â | |||||||
 ≤30 | 134 (37.6) | 117 (28.6) | 251 (32.8) | 0.026 | 82 (34.5) | 84 (35.3) | 166 (34.9) | 0.354 |
 31–60 | 205 (57.6) | 273 (66.7) | 478 (62.5) |  | 144 (60.5) | 148 (62.2) | 292 (61.3) |  |
 > 60 | 17 (4.8) | 19 (4.6) | 36 (4.7) |  | 12 (5.0) | 6 (2.5) | 18 (3.8) |  |
Migrant | ||||||||
 No | 80 (22.5) | 87 (21.3) | 167 (21.8) | 0.726 | 45 (18.9) | 54 (22.7) | 99 (20.8) | 0.366 |
 Yes | 276 (77.5) | 322 (78.7) | 598 (78.2) |  | 193 (81.1) | 184 (77.3) | 377 (79.2) |  |
Household monthly income | ||||||||
 < 5000 | 89 (25.0) | 128 (31.3) | 217 (28.4) | 0.036 | 65 (27.3) | 60 (25.2) | 125 (26.3) | 0.870 |
 5000–10,000 | 155 (43.5) | 183 (44.7) | 338 (44.2) |  | 111 (46.6) | 115 (48.3) | 226 (47.5) |  |
 > 10,000 | 112 (31.5) | 98 (24.0) | 210 (27.5) |  | 62 (26.1) | 63 (26.5) | 125 (26.3) |  |
Marital status | ||||||||
 Married | 318 (89.3) | 350 (85.6) | 668 (87.3) | 0.128 | 207 (87.0) | 203 (85.3) | 410 (86.1) | 0.691 |
 Not married | 38 (10.7) | 59 (14.4) | 97 (12.7) |  | 31 (13.0) | 35 (14.7) | 66 (13.9) |  |
Education | ||||||||
 Primary school or lower | 38 (10.7) | 40 (9.8) | 78 (10.2) | 0.002 | 30 (12.6) | 19 (8.0) | 49 (10.3) | 0.173 |
 Middle/High school | 214 (60.1) | 292 (71.4) | 506 (66.1) |  | 147 (61.8) | 163 (68.5) | 310 (65.1) |  |
 College or above | 104 (29.2) | 77 (18.8) | 181 (23.7 |  | 61 (25.6) | 56 (23.5) | 117 (24.6) |  |
Working status | ||||||||
 Employed | 245 (68.8) | 345 (84.4) | 590 (77.1) | < 0.001 | 185 (77.7) | 192 (80.7) | 377 (79.2) | 0.142 |
 Retired | 15 (4.2) | 9 (2.2) | 24 (3.1) |  | 10 (4.2) | 3 (1.3) | 13 (2.7) |  |
 Unemployed | 96 (27) | 55 (13.4) | 151 (19.7) |  | 43 (18.1) | 43 (18.1) | 86 (18.1) |  |
Contracted with a GP | ||||||||
 No | 337 (94.7) | 393 (96.1) | 730 (95.4) | 0.388 | 229 (96.2) | 226 (95.0) | 455 (95.6) | 0.656 |
 Yes | 19 (5.3) | 16 (3.9) | 35 (4.6) |  | 9 (3.8) | 12 (5.0) | 21 (4.4) |  |
Self-perceived health status health status | ||||||||
 Excellent/Very good/good | 238 (66.9) | 311 (76.0) | 549 (71.8) | 0.006 | 166 (69.7) | 164 (68.9) | 330 (69.3) | 0.921 |
 Poor/Fair | 118 (33.1) | 98 (24.0) | 216 (28.2) |  | 72 (30.3) | 74 (31.1) | 146 (30.7) |  |
Chronic condition | ||||||||
No | 276 (77.5) | 288 (70.4) | 564 (73.7) | 0.026 | 184 (77.3) | 181 (76.1) | 365 (76.7) | 0.828 |
Yes | 80 (22.5) | 121 (29.6) | 201 (26.3) | Â | 54 (22.7) | 57 (23.9) | 111 (23.3) | Â |
Period of time since the first visit | ||||||||
 < 2 Years | 153 (43.0) | 197 (48.2) | 350 (45.8) | 0.309 | 103 (43.3) | 117 (49.2) | 220 (46.2) | 0.225 |
 2–5 Years | 100 (28.1) | 110 (26.9) | 210 (27.5) |  | 70 (29.4) | 54 (22.7) | 124 (26.1) |  |
 > 5 Years | 103 (28.9) | 102 (24.9) | 205 (26.8) |  | 65 (27.3) | 67 (28.2) | 132 (27.7) |  |
Number of GP visits in the past year | ||||||||
 < 3 | 136 (38.2) | 122 (29.8) | 258 (33.7) | 0.041 | 118 (49.6) | 91 (38.2) | 209 (43.9) | 0.064 |
 3–5 | 125 (35.1) | 149 (36.4) | 274 (35.8) |  | 72 (30.3) | 79 (33.2) | 151 (31.7) |  |
 6–15 | 79 (22.2) | 107 (26.2) | 186 (24.3) |  | 40 (16.8) | 57 (23.9) | 97 (20.4) |  |
 > 15 | 16 (4.5) | 31 (7.6) | 47 (6.1) |  | 8 (3.4) | 11 (4.6) | 19 (4.0) |  |