Rural practice preferences among medical students in Ghana: a discrete choice experiment
Margaret E Kruk, Jennifer C Johnson, Mawuli Gyakobo, Peter Agyei-Baffour, Kwesi Asabir, S Rani Kotha, Janet Kwansah, Emmanuel Nakua, Rachel C Snow & Mawuli Dzodzomenyo
Volume 88, Number 5, May 2010, 333-341
Table 1. Demographic characteristics of fourth year medical students (n = 302) in discrete choice experiment on rural posting attributes influencing students’ stated job preferences
| Characteristic | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| No. | % | |
| Gender | ||
| Female | 118 | 39 |
| Male | 183 | 61 |
| Rather not say | 1 | 0.3 |
| Marital status | ||
| Married or cohabitating | 2 | 1 |
| Unmarried but in a relationship | 117 | 39 |
| Not in a relationship | 176 | 58 |
| Don’t know/rather not say | 7 | 2 |
| Students with children | 3 | 1 |
| Mother’s education | ||
| No schooling or basic schooling | 64 | 21 |
| Secondary or technical vocational | 89 | 30 |
| Polytechnic school | 42 | 14 |
| University degree | 100 | 33 |
| Don’t know/rather not say | 7 | 2 |
| Father’s education | ||
| No schooling or basic schooling | 25 | 8 |
| Secondary or technical vocational | 60 | 20 |
| Polytechnic school | 30 | 10 |
| University degree | 170 | 56 |
| Don’t know/rather not say | 17 | 6 |
| Religion | ||
| Christian | 270 | 90 |
| Muslim | 20 | 7 |
| No religion | 4 | 1 |
| Other | 8 | 3 |
| Ethnicity | ||
| Akan | 137 | 45 |
| Ga/Dangme | 40 | 13 |
| Ewe | 39 | 13 |
| Other | 57 | 19 |
| Don’t know/rather not say | 29 | 10 |
| Has ever lived in another countrya | 103 | 34 |
| International studentb | 40 | 13 |
| Birthplace | ||
| Urban or periurban area | 264 | 87 |
| Rural area | 33 | 11 |
| Don’t know | 5 | 2 |
| Has lived in rural area (when ≥ 5 years old)c | 72 | 24 |
| Has done outreach or service in rural area while trainingd | 142 | 59 |
| Is obligated to return to work in specific area after graduatione | 14 | 5 |
a This includes 40 international students. Of the 63 Ghanaian students who had lived in another country, 28 (45.2%) had lived in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 24 (38.7%) in the United States of America and 39 of the 63 (58.1%) had lived abroad for 1 or more years.
b Thirty-six (90%) international students were born in Nigeria.
c Sixty (83.3%) students had lived in a rural area for 1 year or more.
d Due to skip logic error, only 242 respondents were given this question (reflected in % calculation).
e Of those obligated, 1 (7.1%) respondent was bound to return to a rural area.