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. 2023 Jun 20;38(Suppl 3):894–904. doi: 10.1007/s11606-023-08131-5

Table 2.

Baseline Characteristics at the Patient Level for Primary Care

Control vs. all nudge arms combined Individual nudge arms
Overall Control Treatment SMD^ Consequences for self Consequences for others Social norms Combination of all nudges
Measure N = 27,540* N = 4916* N = 22,624* N = 6592* N = 5759* N = 4353* N = 5920*
Age 63.7 (15.5) 65.6 (14.4) 63.3 (15.7) 0.150 64.8 (14.8) 62.8 (15.9) 62.9 (16.1) 62.6 (16.1)
Gender 0.129
Female 2783 (10.1%) 349 (7.1%) 2434 (10.8%) 564 (8.6%) 839 (14.6%) 444 (10.2%) 587 (9.9%)
Race 0.038
White 22,016 (79.9%) 3888 (79.1%) 18,128 (80.1%) 5340 (81.0%) 4540 (78.8%) 3488 (80.1%) 4760 (80.4%)
American Indian or Alaska Native 357 (1.3%) 65 (1.3%) 292 (1.3%) 91 (1.4%) 71 (1.2%) 58 (1.3%) 72 (1.2%)
Asian 281 (1.0%) 49 (1.0%) 232 (1.0%) 60 (0.9%) 45 (0.8%) 70 (1.6%) 57 (1.0%)
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander 230 (0.8%) 37 (0.8%) 193 (0.9%) 46 (0.7%) 39 (0.7%) 45 (1.0%) 63 (1.1%)
Black or African American 891 (3.2%) 155 (3.2%) 736 (3.3%) 218 (3.3%) 172 (3.0%) 147 (3.4%) 199 (3.4%)
More than one race 307 (1.1%) 61 (1.2%) 246 (1.1%) 70 (1.1%) 59 (1.0%) 54 (1.2%) 63 (1.1%)
Unknown 3458 (12.6%) 661 (13.4%) 2797 (12.4%) 767 (11.6%) 833 (14.5%) 491 (11.3%) 706 (11.9%)
Ethnicity 0.046
Hispanic or Latino 830 (3.0%) 118 (2.4%) 712 (3.1%) 183 (2.8%) 197 (3.4%) 138 (3.2%) 194 (3.3%)
Not Hispanic or Latino 23,285 (84.5%) 4188 (85.2%) 19,097 (84.4%) 5664 (85.9%) 4748 (82.4%) 3715 (85.3%) 4970 (84.0%)
Unknown 3425 (12.4%) 610 (12.4%) 2815 (12.4%) 745 (11.3%) 814 (14.1%) 500 (11.5%) 756 (12.8%)
Rurality 0.015
Rural 9210 (33.4%) 1672 (34.0%) 7538 (33.3%) 2208 (33.5%) 2208 (38.3%) 1295 (29.7%) 1827 (30.9%)
Missing 1 0 1 0 0 0 1
VA service connection 0.040
At least 50% 11,317 (41.1%) 1941 (39.5%) 9376 (41.4%) 2666 (40.4%) 2403 (41.7%) 1835 (42.2%) 2472 (41.8%)
Depression diagnosis in the prior two years 0.004
Yes 6519 (23.7%) 1156 (23.5%) 5363 (23.7%) 1578 (23.9%) 1357 (23.6%) 1025 (23.5%) 1403 (23.7%)
PTSD diagnosis in the prior two years 0.034
Yes 5947 (21.6%) 1005 (20.4%) 4942 (21.8%) 1422 (21.6%) 1339 (23.3%) 920 (21.1%) 1261 (21.3%)
Substance use disorder diagnosis in the prior two years 0.017
Yes 3103 (11.3%) 532 (10.8%) 2571 (11.4%) 674 (10.2%) 661 (11.5%) 533 (12.2%) 703 (11.9%)
Elixhauser comorbidity score 14.0 (17.2) 15.4 (18.2) 13.7 (17.0) 0.102 14.7 (17.2) 12.1 (15.4) 13.9 (17.8) 13.8 (17.4)
CAN 90 score 0.048
Lower risk 25,426 (93.0%) 4493 (91.9%) 20,933 (93.2%) 6084 (92.8%) 5418 (95.0%) 3987 (92.1%) 5444 (92.7%)
High risk 1925 (7.0%) 394 (8.1%) 1531 (6.8%) 471 (7.2%) 288 (5.0%) 344 (7.9%) 428 (7.3%)
Missing 189 29 160 37 53 22 48
Prior visits§ 2.6 (3.4) 3.0 (4.4) 2.5 (3.1) 0.130 2.6 (3.5) 2.3 (2.4) 2.8 (3.4) 2.5 (3.0)

^SMD, standardized mean differences

*Mean (SD); n (%)

Self-identified gender as indicated in the VA electronic health record, with missing values imputed with sex

Care Assessment Need score reflecting estimated probability of readmission or death at 90 days

§Number of prior visits for the patient at the provider’s clinic location in the past 2 years