Table 1.

Select characteristics by periodontitis status of our analysis sample (n = 5,103) of a continuously enrolled diabetic population, age 40–70 years, with medical and dental insurance and at least one dental and one medical visit during the study years 2002–2006

	Total	No periodontal care	Periodontal care	P *
n	5,103	3,153	1,950	—
Average 5-year GHb %	7.66 ± 1.3	7.62 ± 1.3	7.72 ± 1.4	0.01
Average number of GHb tests/5 years	7.56 ± 4.4	7.62 ± 4.4	7.46 ± 4.3	0.19
Age (years)
40–49 (n = 1,308)	26	25	26	0.01
50–59 (n = 2,466)	48	47	50
60–70 (n = 1,329)	26	28	24
Sex (female)	45	48	40	<0.001
Smoking status during 5-year study period†‡
Nonsmoker	86	87	83	<0.001
Intermittent smoker	9	8	10
Continuous smoker	5	5	6
Preventive service use
Average number well-care visits/5 years	1.10 ± 1.1	1.10 ± 1.1	1.09 ± 1.1	0.65
Average number retinal eye exams/5 years	4.04 ± 4.2	4.13 ± 4.2	3.91 ± 4.2	0.08
Ambulatory service use
Average primary care visits/5 years	21.90 ± 16.6	22.65 ± 17.4	20.70 ± 15.2	<0.001
Average specialty visits/5 years	11.99 ± 11.8	12.47 ± 12.2	11.21 ± 11.2	<0.001
Insurance type 2002‡				<0.001
Medicare	12	14	10
Individual	2	2	2
Commercial	24	24	26
Government	61	60	63
Other	0	0	0
Diabetes Complication Severity Index 2002–2003
0:0	49	49	49	0.1
1:1	23	23	25
2:>1	28	28	26
Diabetes treatment intensity 2002–2006				0.93
0:No hypoglycemic medication	23	22	23
1:Oral hypoglycemics only	46	46	46
2:Any insulin	31	32	31
RxRisk (comorbidity score) 2002†
201–1,440	25	24	27	0.004
1,441–2,750	25	25	25
2,751–4,560	25	25	25
≥4,561	25	26	23
Average median BMI (first three measurements in 2002–2006)†	33.72 ± 7.3	33.95 ± 7.4	33.36 ± 7.0	0.006

Data are means ± SD or percent unless otherwise indicated.

*We used Pearson χ² for categorical variables and ANOVA F tests for continuous variables to test differences in percents and means of population characteristics by periodontitis status.

†Counts for missing data: smoking n = 2, RxRisk n = 2, BMI n = 187 (3.6%).

‡Percentages do not add up to 100 because of rounding.