Table 1 Classification of factors influencing demand for health care in previous studies and in this paper (demand enablers are indicated with “+” and disablers with “-”)

DAT20, NAK20, SUK16, SEI18, NGH17, D20, TET17

Individual characteristics

.Education (+) [TET17]

.Age (+) [SEI18, DAT20] (population ageing contributes to increased health expenditure at the macroeconomic level) (+) [NGH17]

.Income (+)

.Poverty (−)

.Education

.Age

.Income

.Poverty

.Gender

SUK16, ABD17, NGH17, CHE21, ZHA20

Health level and condition

.Chronic disease (+)

.Interaction with ill individuals (+)

.Illness stigmatization (−)

.Anxiety (a positive predictor of TB stigmatization) [CHE21] (−)

.Health level of the community and capacity to support health care seeking (+)

.Serious lung diseases (including chronic diseases)

.Subjective pain level caused by respiratory illness or dry cough

.Symptoms caused by respiratory illness

.Duration of respiratory illness and dry cough

D20, DAT20, SEI18, SUK16

Health knowledge

.Ability to identify symptoms, their severity, linkage with illnesses and causes (+)

.Limited knowledge about prevention and treatment (−)

.Degree of “health literacy” or capacity to obtain and use information in order to ensure good health [SUK16] (+)

Proxied by education

D20, NAK20, CHE21, SUK16

Intrahousehold relationships, gender and communities

.Mothers’ agency to seek health care (−) and control of household budget (+);

.Household size (−)

.Female gender (−/+)

.Support from relatives in seeking health care and overcoming stigmatization (+)

.Social capital [SUK16] (+)

.Household size

.Gender of respondent

.Gender of child’s caregiver

D20, CHE21, NAK20, DAT20, DIA13

Access to care (including relationship with providers and treatment cost)

.Previous contacts (+) and good personal relations with health care provider (+), including good patient–physician communication (+) [CHE21]

.Health facility distance (−)

.Treatment cost (−), copayment or any out-of-pocket disbursement being required (−)

.Opportunity cost of treatment (specifically transport cost) (−)

.Waiting time (−)

.Facility distance or travel time

.Waiting time

.Has at least a moderate amount of time available to seek health care

.Health insurance

D20, NAK20, TET17, DIA13, SEI18

Nonprofessional care (traditional medicine and alternative, self-prescribed and over-the-counter medication)

.Resort to self-made medication (including traditional plant- and herb-based remedies) (−) and self-medication with either traditional or ordinary drugs (−) [SEI18];

.Resort to traditional healers and “chemists” (medication vendors) (−)

.Relative distance of formal and nonformal care options (e.g., “chemist”/drug vendors are inside the community and health facility is outside) (−)

Resort to nonprofessional health care (mostly traditional medication)

PIA17, NGH17

Macroeconomic factors

.GDP (predictor of public health care expenditure) [PIA17] (+)

.Labour force (idem) [PIA 17] (+)

.Technological progress (which fosters economic growth and thus health expenditure) [PIA 17] (+)

Not addressed