Demographic characteristics of the total participants
A total of 1065 people participated in the survey, 15 were excluded due to incomplete or inconsistent answers, thus 1050 (98.6%) were included in the analysis.
As shown in Table 1, the participants were divided into two groups. 403 (38.4%) were non-medical staff, among which, 111 (27.5%) were caregivers of AD patients, 292 (72.5%) were the general public. 647 (61.6%) were medical staff, which was made up of 492 (76.0%) working in tertiary hospitals, 140 (21.6%) working in secondary hospitals, and 15 (2.3%) working in primary hospitals. There were statistically significant differences in gender, age, residence, education level, marital status, occupation type, working status, monthly income and type of medical insurance between non-medical staff and medical staff. (Table 1)
Table 1
Demographic characteristics of the participants
| | Non-Medical staff(n = 403) | Medical staff (n = 647) | P |
Gender | | | | |
Male (n, %) | | 144(35.7) | 128(19.8) | < 0.001 |
Female (n, %) | | 259(64.3) | 519(80.2) | |
Age(years) | | 56.5 ± 13.5 | 37.6 ± 15.1 | < 0.001 |
Residence | | | | |
Rural (n, %) | | 46(11.4) | 48(7.4) | 0.027 |
Urban (n, %) | | 357(88.6) | 599(92.6) | |
Education level | | | | |
Middle school or below (n, %) | | 49(12.2) | 0(0.0) | < 0.001 |
High school (n, %) | | 79(19.6) | 10(1.5) | |
College or above (n, %) | | 275(68.2) | 637(98.5) | |
Marital status | | | | |
Single (n, %) | | 66(16.4) | 118(18.2) | < 0.001 |
Married (n, %) | | 316(78.4) | 525(81.1) | |
Widowed (n, %) | | 21(5.2) | 4(0.6) | |
Occupation type | | | | |
Manual worker (n, %) | | 90(22.3) | 180(27.8) | 0.047 |
Mental worker (n, %) | | 313(77.7) | 467(72.2) | |
Working state | | | | |
Working (n, %) | | 275(68.2) | 628(97.1) | < 0.001 |
Retired (n, %) | | 128(31.8) | 19(2.9) | |
Monthly income | | | | |
< ¥ 3000 (n, %) | | 68(16.9) | 42(6.5) | < 0.001 |
¥ 3000- ¥ 4999 (n, %) | | 129(32.0) | 177(27.4) | |
¥ 5000元- ¥ 99999 (n, %) | | 144(35.7) | 305(47.1) | |
≥ ¥ 10000 (n, %) | | 62(15.4) | 123(19.0) | |
Type of medical insurance | | | | |
Employee (n, %) | | 293(72.7) | 611(94.4) | < 0.001 |
Others (n, %) | | 110(27.3) | 36(5.6) | |
Characteristics Of The Participants Willing And Unwilling To Undergo Lumbar Puncture
There were 862 (82.1%) participants willing to undergo lumbar puncture, and 188 (17.9%) declared unwillingness. Gender, age, education level, marital status, occupation type, working status, monthly income, and type of medical insurance had significantly different between willingness to undergo the lumbar puncture group and the unwillingness to undergo the lumbar puncture group. Also, the desire about willing to undergo lumbar puncture had significant differences between medical staff and non-medical staff (Table 2)
Table 2
Factors influencing participants' recognition of lumbar puncture
| willing to undergo (n = 862) | unwilling to undergo (n = 188) | P |
Gender | | | |
Male (n, %) | 209(24.2) | 63(33.5) | 0.009 |
Female (n, %) | 653(75.8) | 125(66.5) | |
Age(years) | 40.0 ± 15.6 | 47.5 ± 15.1 | 0.011 |
Residence | | | |
Rural (n, %) | 73(8.5) | 21(11.2) | 0.240 |
Urban (n, %) | 789(91.5) | 167(88.8) | |
Education level | | | |
Middle school or below (n, %) | 26(3.0) | 23(12.2) | < 0.001 |
High school (n, %) | 50(5.8) | 39(20.7) | |
College or above (n, %)e | 786(91.2) | 126(67.0) | |
Marital status | | | |
Single (n, %) | 154(17.9) | 30(16.0) | 0.013 |
Married (n, %) | 693(80.4) | 148(78.7) | |
Widowed (n, %) | 15(1.7) | 10(5.3) | |
Occupation type | | | |
Manual worker (n, %) | 212(24.6) | 58(30.9) | 0.005 |
Mental worker (n, %) | 650(75.4) | 130(69.1) | |
Working state | | | |
Working (n, %) | 768(89.1) | 135(71.8) | < 0.001 |
Retired (n, %) | 94(10.9) | 53(28.2) | |
Monthly income | | |
< ¥ 3000 (n, %) | 73(8.5) | 37(19.7) | < 0.001 |
¥ 3000- ¥ 4999 (n, %) | 248(28.8) | 58(30.9) | |
¥ 5000元- ¥ 99999 (n, %) | 384(44.5) | 65(34.6) | |
≥ ¥ 10000 (n, %) | 157(18.2) | 28(14.9) | |
Type of medical insurance | | | |
Employee (n, %) | 763(88.5) | 141(75.0) | < 0.001 |
Others (n, %) | 99(11.5) | 47(25.0) | |
Participant identity | | | |
Non-Medical staff (n, %) | 256(629.7) | 147(78.2) | < 0.001 |
Medical staff (n, %) | 606(70.3) | 41(21.8) | |
Factors Associated With Willingness To Undergo Lumbar Puncture
Because the demographic characteristics had significant difference between medical staff and non-medical staff, these two groups were analyzed separately when multivariate analysis. Willingness to undergo lumbar puncture were defined as dependent variable (unwillingness = 0, willingness = 1), gender, age, residence, education level, marital status, occupation type, working status, monthly income and type of medical insurance were defined as independent variables for non-medical staff, hospital level, and department were added to the independent variables for medical staff, and multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the factors associated with the decision.
As shown in Table 3, the factors associated with willingness in non-medical staff included: age (OR = 0.963, P = 0.003, 95% CI: 0.939–0.987), education level (OR = 2.073, P = 0.037, 95% CI: 1.044–4.114), monthly income (OR = 1.340, P = 0.031, 95% CI: 1.028–1.748), and occupation type (OR = 1.569, P = 0.038, 95% CI: 1.026–2.400).
Table 3
Multivariate analysis of willingness to undergo lumbar puncture in non-medical staff
Variable | b | SE | Wald | P | OR | 95% CI |
Lower | Upper |
Age | -0.038 | 0.013 | 8.910 | 0.003 | 0.963 | 0.939 | 0.987 |
Education level | 0.729 | 0.350 | 4.343 | 0.037 | 2.073 | 1.044 | 4.114 |
Monthly income | 0.293 | 0.135 | 4.679 | 0.031 | 1.340 | 1.028 | 1.748 |
Occupation type | 0.450 | 0.217 | 4.318 | 0.038 | 1.569 | 1.026 | 2.400 |
As shown in Table 4, the factors associated with willingness in medical staff included: residence (OR = 9.182, P = 0.036, 95% CI: 1.151–73.238), monthly income (OR = 4.008, P = 0.002, 95% CI: 1.689–9.511), hospital Level (OR = 38.311, P < 0.001, 95% CI: 14.323–102.478).
Table 4
Multivariate analysis of willingness to undergo lumbar puncture in medical staff
Variable | b | SE | Wald | P | OR | 95% CI |
Lower | Upper |
Residence | 2.217 | 1.059 | 4.380 | 0.036 | 9.182 | 1.151 | 73.238 |
Monthly income | 1.388 | 0.441 | 9.913 | 0.002 | 4.008 | 1.689 | 9.511 |
Hospital Level | 3.646 | 0.502 | 52.743 | < 0.001 | 38.311 | 14.323 | 102.478 |
Reasons For Willingness To Undergo Lumbar Puncture
Among 862 participants who were willing to undergo lumbar puncture, the majority (508, 58.9%) considered that the lumbar puncture examination could help the diagnosis of AD, 215 (24.9%) considered that this examination could enable patients to receive early treatment, and other reasons are shown in Fig. 1.
Reasons For Unwillingness To Undergo Lumbar Puncture
Of the 188 participants who were unwilling to undergo lumbar puncture, 80 (42.6%) participants considered that AD is currently incurable and the diagnosis would be of little significance, 54 (28.7%) participants have feared the harm due to the invasive operation, and other reasons are shown in Fig. 2.