Table 1.

Between-group comparison of study population characteristics pre-market entry.

	Ashdod region (study group)	Netanya region (control group)	p value
n	94,575	80,200
Agea	32.54 ± 22.96 (29.00, 36.00)	36.28 ± 24.19 (35.00, 40.00)	p < 0.001b
Female (%)	50.38	51.20	p < 0.001c
Morbidities (%)
Cardiovascular disease	4.90	5.08	p = 0.083c
Diabetics	6.85	6.32	p < 0.001c
Hypertension	16.18	15.01	p < 0.001c
Kidney disease	5.75	6.72	p < 0.001c
Oncology disorders	3.87	5.02	p < 0.001c
Private health insurance coverage (%)	87.75	87.37	p = 0.015c
Socioeconomic statusa,d	4.60 ± 1.70 (5.00, 3.00)	6.12 ± 1.61 (6.00, 2.00)	p < 0.001b

^aValues are average ± SD (median, IQR).

^bMann–Whitney U test.

^cχ² test.

^dSocioeconomic status ranges between 1(the lowest level) and 10 (the highest level), according to Points (Location Intelligence) measurement^{23, 24}.