TABLE 1.
Patient Characteristics and Antibiotic Prescriptions According to Subgroup
| Pre-intervention Group | Postintervention Group | P Value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial visits for ARS during study period | 14,566 | 14,092 | |
| Visits excluded due to medical comorbidities | 6,460 | 5,628 | |
| Patients eligible for study inclusion | n = 8,106 | n = 8,464 | |
| Characteristics | |||
| Age, years, mean (SD) | 44.8 (15.6) | 45.6 (15.6) | < 0.001 |
| Male, n (%) | 2,955 (36.5) | 3,087 (36.5) | 0.981 |
| Insurance type, n (%) | |||
| Medicare | 957 (11.7) | 1,063 (12.6) | 0.139 |
| State or county subsidized | 1,280 (15.8) | 1,232 (14.6) | 0.027 |
| Private | 5,492 (67.8) | 5,807 (68.6) | 0.237 |
| Self-pay or other | 71 (0.9) | 48 (0.6) | 0.019 |
| Unavailable | 306 (3.8) | 314 (3.7) | 0.825 |
| State, n (%) | |||
| Iowa | 211 (2.6) | 238 (2.8) | 0.408 |
| Minnesota | 1,657 (20.4) | 1,736 (20.5) | 0.913 |
| North Dakota | 3,714 (45.8) | 3,719 (43.9) | 0.015 |
| South Dakota | 2,524 (31.1) | 2,771 (32.7) | 0.027 |
| Visit provider type, n (%) | |||
| Physician | 4,780 (58.9) | 4,614 (54.5) | < 0.001 |
| Nurse practitioner | 1,744 (21.5) | 2,228 (26.3) | < 0.001 |
| Physician assistant | 1,552 (19.1) | 1,604 (18.9) | 0.749 |
| Other | 30 (0.4) | 18 (0.2) | 0.059 |
| Visit department, n (%) | |||
| Family medicine | 4,556 (56.2) | 4,722 (55.8) | 0.59 |
| Acute care | 3,250 (40.1) | 3,449 (40.7) | 0.39 |
| Internal medicine | 300 (3.7) | 293 (3.5) | 0.41 |
| Comorbidities, n (%) | |||
| Heart failure | 29 (0.4) | 43 (0.5) | 0.142 |
| Ischemic heart disease | 178 (2.2) | 234 (2.8) | 0.019 |
| Hypertension | 1,291 (15.9) | 1,417 (16.7) | 0.156 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 447 (5.9) | 577 (6.8) | 0.014 |
| Depressive disorder | 1,000 (12.3) | 1,090 (12.9) | 0.294 |
| Chronic kidney disease | 70 (0.9) | 86 (1.0) | 0.310 |
| Antibiotic prescriptions by subgroup | |||
| All visits, n/total n (%) | 7,686/8,106 (94.8) | 7,984/8,464 (94.3) | 0.152 |
| Age, years, n/total n (%) | |||
| 18-44 | 3,939/4,147 (95.0) | 3,960/4,194 (94.4) | 0.251 |
| 45-64 | 2,900/3,058 (94.8) | 3,086/3,247 (95.0) | 0.706 |
| 65-74 | 600/640 (93.8) | 672/731 (91.9) | 0.194 |
| 75 or older | 247/261 (94.6) | 266/292 (91.1) | 0.109 |
| Insurance type, n/total n (%) | |||
| Medicare | 889/957 (92.9) | 980/1,063 (92.2) | 0.549 |
| State or county subsidized | 1,210/1,280 (94.5) | 1,159/1,232 (94.1) | 0.622 |
| Private | 5,224/5,492 (95.1) | 5,498/5,807 (94.7) | 0.287 |
| Self-pay or other | 68/71 (95.8) | 47/48 (97.9) | 0.525 |
| Unavailable | 295/306 (96.4) | 300/314 (95.5) | 0.585 |
| Visit provider type, n/total n (%) | |||
| Physician | 4,530/4,780 (94.8) | 4,349/4,614 (94.3) | 0.275 |
| Nurse practitioner | 1,643/1,744 (94.2) | 2,080/2,228 (93.4) | 0.272 |
| Physician assistant | 1,485/1,552 (95.7) | 1,538/1,604 (95.9) | 0.777 |
| Other | 28/30 (93.3) | 17/18 (94.4) | 0.878 |
| Visit department, n/total n (%) | |||
| Acute care | 3,183/3,250 (97.9) | 3,329/3,449 (96.5) | < 0.001 |
| Family medicine | 4,245/4,556 (93.2) | 4,403/4,722 (93.2) | 0.893 |
| Internal medicine | 258/300 (86.0) | 252/293 (86.0) | 0.998 |
| Comorbidities, n/total n (%) | |||
| Heart failure | 29/29 (100.0) | 39/43 (90.7) | 0.091 |
| Ischemic heart disease | 168/178 (94.4) | 212/234 (90.6) | 0.155 |
| Hypertension | 1,224/1,291 (94.8) | 1,320/1,417 (93.2) | 0.071 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 445/447 (93.3) | 542/577 (93.9) | 0.670 |
| Depressive disorder | 931/1,000 (93.1) | 1,036/1,090 (95.1) | 0.059 |
| Chronic kidney disease | 66/70 (94.3) | 77/86 (89.5) | 0.286 |
ARS = acute rhinosinusitis; SD = standard deviation.