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Table 1 Baseline Characteristics of 100,256 Community-living Ontarians with Dementia, by PCP’s daily patient volume

From: Primary care physician volume and quality of care for older adults with dementia: a retrospective cohort study

 

Average Number of Patients Seen Daily by Patient’s Primary Care Physician

 

 < 20

20–24

25–29

 ≥ 30

Standardizessd Differencea

(< 20 vs ≥ 30)

Patient Characteristics

N = 36,150

(%)

N = 21,362

(%)

N = 15,224

(%)

N = 27,520

(%)

 

Age group

66–69

2,078 (5.7%)

1,160 (5.4%)

822 (5.4%)

1,659 (6.0%)

0.01

70–74

4,034 (11.2%)

2,270 (10.6%)

1,704 (11.2%)

3,310 (12.0%)

0.03

75–79

6,373 (17.6%)

3,800 (17.8%)

2,607 (17.1%)

4,960 (18.0%)

0.01

80–84

8,768 (24.3%)

5,310 (24.9%)

3,691 (24.2%)

6,782 (24.6%)

0.01

85 + 

14,897 (41.2%)

8,822 (41.3%)

6,400 (42.0%)

10,809 (39.3%)

0.04

Sex

Female

21,794 (60.3%)

12,598 (59.0%)

8,779 (57.7%)

15,822 (57.5%)

0.06

Male

14,356 (39.7%)

8,764 (41.0%)

6,445 (42.3%)

11,698 (42.5%)

0.06

Neighborhood Deprivation Index

1—least deprived

6,422 (17.8%)

3,554 (16.6%)

2,480 (16.3%)

3,396 (12.3%)

0.15

2

7,104 (19.7%)

3,994 (18.7%)

2,822 (18.5%)

4,332 (15.7%)

0.10

3

7,065 (19.5%)

4,186 (19.6%)

2,868 (18.8%)

4,946 (18.0%)

0.04

4

7,296 (20.2%)

4,295 (20.1%)

3,154 (20.7%)

6,442 (23.4%)

0.08

5—most deprived

7,431 (20.6%)

4,886 (22.9%)

3,538 (23.2%)

7,618 (27.7%)

0.17

Missing data

832 (2.3%)

447 (2.1%)

362 (2.4%)

786 (2.9%)

0.03

Immigrated to Ontario in past 10 years

561 (1.6%)

346 (1.6%)

278 (1.8%)

753 (2.7%)

0.08

Location of dwelling

Urban

25,141 (69.5%)

15,604 (73.0%)

11,533 (75.8%)

22,482 (81.7%)

0.29

Non-urban

7,328 (20.3%)

4,476 (21.0%)

3,034 (19.9%)

4,139 (15.0%)

0.14

Rural

3,478 (9.6%)

1,227 (5.7%)

615 (4.0%)

818 (3.0%)

0.28

Missing data

203 (0.6%)

55 (0.3%)

42 (0.3%)

81 (0.3%)

0.04

CIHI Comorbidity Group Index (2- year look-back)

No health condition

328 (0.9%)

189 (0.9%)

142 (0.9%)

187 (0.7%)

0.03

Major and

palliative

27,750 (76.8%)

16,028 (75.0%)

11,345 (74.5%)

19,888 (72.3%)

0.10

Moderate

5,193 (14.4%)

3,356 (15.7%)

2,387 (15.7%)

4,741 (17.2%)

0.08

Minor

2,570 (7.1%)

1,564 (7.3%)

1,130 (7.4%)

2,226 (8.1%)

0.04

Non-user

309 (0.9%)

225 (1.1%)

220 (1.4%)

478 (1.7%)

0.08

Type of Dementia

Alzheimer’s

2,864 (7.9%)

1,665 (7.8%)

1,169 (7.7%)

2,100 (7.6%)

0.01

Vascular

786 (2.2%)

474 (2.2%)

309 (2.0%)

580 (2.1%)

0.00

Other

9,119 (25.2%)

5,484 (25.7%)

3,945 (25.9%)

6,896 (25.1%)

0.00

Missing data

23,381 (64.7%)

13,739 (64.3%)

9,801 (64.4%)

17,944 (65.2%)

0.01

Years since dementia diagnosis

0–1

14,456 (40.0%)

8,190 (38.3%)

5,851 (38.4%)

10,158 (36.9%)

0.06

2–9

19,415 (53.7%)

11,744 (55.0%)

8,385 (55.1%)

15,316 (55.7%)

0.04

 ≥ 10

2,279 (6.3%)

1,428 (6.7%)

988 (6.5%)

2,046 (7.4%)

0.04

# unique medications in use on index date

0–5

7,015 (19.4%)

4,011 (18.8%)

2,679 (17.6%)

4,534 (16.5%)

0.08

6–9

8,468 (23.4%)

4,851 (22.7%)

3,311 (21.7%)

5,538 (20.1%)

0.08

10–19

15,372 (42.5%)

9,254 (43.3%)

6,542 (43.0%)

12,128 (44.1%)

0.03

20 + 

5,295 (14.6%)

3,246 (15.2%)

2,692 (17.7%)

5,320 (19.3%)

0.12

Medications taken in year prior to index date

Cholinesterase

inhibitor

14,942 (41.3%)

9,265 (43.4%)

6,729 (44.2%)

12,112 (44.0%)

0.05

Benzodiazepine

4,864 (13.5%)

3,234 (15.1%)

2,451 (16.1%)

4,989 (18.1%)

0.13

Antipsychotic

5,273 (14.6%)

3,319 (15.5%)

2,489 (16.3%)

5,114 (18.6%)

0.11

Patient Rostering to PCP

Not rostered

1,728 (4.8%)

750 (3.5%)

759 (5.0%)

2,061 (7.5%)

0.11

Rostered

32,192 (89.1%)

19,052 (89.2%)

13,228 (86.9%)

22,998 (83.6%)

0.16

Virtually rostered

2,230 (6.2%)

1,560 (7.3%)

1,237 (8.1%)

2,461 (8.9%)

0.11

Physicians seen in year prior to index date

PCP

31,059 (85.9%)

18,732 (87.7%)

13,053 (85.7%)

23,645 (85.9%)

0.00

Psychiatrist or

geriatric

psychiatrist

4,013 (11.1%)

2,055 (9.6%)

1,444 (9.5%)

2,617 (9.5%)

0.05

Geriatrician

7,833 (21.7%)

4,599 (21.5%)

3,393 (22.3%)

6,090 (22.1%)

0.01

Neurologist

5,205 (14.4%)

2,876 (13.5%)

2,122 (13.9%)

3,790 (13.8%)

0.02

Past-Year Hospitalizations or Emergency Department Visits

16,655 (46.1%)

9,567 (44.8%)

6,920 (45.5%)

12,377 (45.0%)

0.02

Doctor-Patient Relationship Variablesb

• Annual number of visits to PCP

8.24 ± 8.60

10.02 ± 9.96

10.84 ± 11.10

13.50 ± 15.03

0.43

• High annual PCP

visit frequencyc

6,181 (17.1%)

5,109 (23.9%)

4,183 (27.5%)

9,847 (35.8%)

0.21

• Continuity of cared

0.73 ± 0.33

0.78 ± 0.31

0.77 ± 0.32

0.76 ± 0.33

0.11

• High (≥ 0.75)

continuity of care

22,755 (62.9%)

15,069 (70.5%)

10,570 (69.4%)

19,052 (69.2%)

0.13

• Relationship duratione

8.20 ± 7.15

9.86 ± 7.42

10.00 ± 7.61

9.31 ± 7.38

0.15

• Same PCP for ≥ 5

years

20,991 (58.1%)

14,128 (66.1%)

10,047 (66.0%)

17,603 (64.0%)

0.12

  1. a Standardised difference of means comparing people whose PCP sees < 20 patients daily to people whose PCP sees ≥ 30 patients daily
  2. b Measured in two years prior to index date, from April 1, 2014 to March 31, 2016
  3. c Patient made average of ≥ 7 visits/year between April 1, 2014 to March 31, 2016
  4. d Proportion of all physician visits from April 1, 2014 to March 31, 2016 that were to PCP
  5. Length of time in years patient cared for by current PCP