Table 4.
Caregiver-reported Health and Social Service Utilization
| BaselineaMean (SD) | (n=81) Median (IQR) | 6 Months Mean (SD) | (n=77) Median (IQR) | 12 Months Mean (SD) | (n=79) Median (IQR) | *P value | *P value (T1-T2) | *P value (T2-T3) | *P value (T1-T3) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Variable |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Physician/specialist visits |
$502 (574) |
$282 (398) |
$356 (346) |
$249 (360) |
$317 (357) |
$196 (307) |
0.09 |
|
|
|
|
Other health care provider visits |
$4147 (5607) |
$2424 (4018) |
$4353 (6335) |
$2115 (4058) |
$4965 (6558) |
$2936 (6028) |
0.03 |
0.25 |
0.03 |
0.99 |
|
Total health care provider visits |
$4649 (5584) |
$2868 (3803) |
$4709 (6341) |
$2709 (4358) |
$5281 (6585) |
$3113 (5788) |
0.01 |
0.03 |
0.05 |
0.99 |
|
Use of community support services |
$781 (2008) |
$0 (280) |
$895 (1640) |
$0 (1200) |
$863 (1750) |
$0 (958) |
0.73 |
|
|
|
|
Diagnostic tests |
$131 (226) |
$42 (186) |
$153 (243) |
$53 (158) |
$109 (193) |
$34 (123) |
0.01 |
0.18 |
0.99 |
0.008 |
|
Specialty Itemsb |
$276 (1063) |
$0 (0) |
$361 (1663) |
$0 (8) |
$140 (392) |
$0 (0) |
0.70 |
|
|
|
|
Medication costs |
$482 (422) |
$356 (359) |
$455 (383) |
$356 (415) |
$385 (338) |
$345 (449) |
<.0001 |
0.003 |
<.0001 |
<.0001 |
|
Transportation within Ontario |
$474 (892) |
$174 (468) |
$434 (791) |
$188 (379) |
$373 (660) |
$153 (346) |
0.23 |
|
|
|
|
Work loss due to illness |
$502 (1648) |
$0 (148) |
$285 (698) |
$0 (240) |
$292 (1258) |
$0 (0) |
0.55 |
|
|
|
|
Work loss due to treatment |
$238 (654) |
$0 (0) |
$85 (348) |
$0 (0) |
$159 (1191) |
$0 (0) |
0.002 |
0.26 |
0.63 |
0.0006 |
|
Government cheque received |
$1820 (3220) |
$680 (2580) |
$2161 (1923) |
$1575 (3084) |
$5620 (27817) |
$1720 (3198) |
0.005 |
0.98 |
0.92 |
<.0001 |
| Out of pocket expenses | $2267 (3583) | $813 (2793) | $3875 (3151) | $3111 (4489) | $1827 (2610) | $538 (2748) | <.0001 | 0.001 | 0.0001 | 0.96 |
* Analyses using Friedman test; post-hoc testing on results where p<.05 with Sidak adjustments used to adjust the P value for multiple comparisons.
a Parental report on 6 months prior to intervention.
b Specialty items include special treatment (e.g. chemotherapy, antibiotics, injections, vaccinations, etc.) and supplies, aids or devices (wheelchairs, syringes, walker, etc.).
c Government cheque includes all forms of government assistance, including: disability and treatment, child tax benefit, day care, workers compensation, old age security, disability pension, Ontario Guaranteed Annual Income Supplement (GAINS), Veteran’s pension, employment insurance, and social assistance [23].
d Out of pocket expenses is based on the sum of community support services costs, specialty item costs, transportation costs and work loss costs.