Table 1.
Descriptive Statistics for the Cohort of Diabetic Patients Taking Oral Hypoglycemic Agents During the First Quarter of FY2007 and the VA Primary Care Clinics Where Patients Were Seen
| Measure | Overall | Hospital clinics | Community clinics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Facility characteristics | |||
| Number of facilities (N) | 559 | 158 | 401 |
| Cohort subjects per facility (SD) | 795 (782) | 1,623 (904) | 469 (392) |
| Maximum (N) | 7,399 | 7,399 | 2,296 |
| Minimum (N) | 104 | 253 | 104 |
| Patient characteristics | |||
| Subjects (N) | 444,418 | 256,520 | 187,898 |
| Age (SD) | 67.9 (11.0) | 67.2 (11.0) | 68.9 (10.9) |
| Female (%) | 2.1 | 2.4 | 1.7 |
| Married (%) | 65.6 | 63.1 | 69.1 |
| Service connected percentage (SD)* | 17.9 (30.2) | 19.2 (31.2) | 16.0 (28.8) |
| Primary reason received free care: | |||
| Disability (%) | 34.6 | 27.7 | 35.1 |
| Low income (%) | 34.6 | 35.7 | 33.2 |
| No free care (%) | 30.8 | 36.6 | 31.7 |
| FY06 Total VA care encounters (SD) | 7.1 (8.8) | 8.0 (9.9) | 5.9 (7.0) |
| First quartile (%)* | 37.2 | 31.7 | 44.8 |
| Second quartile (%)* | 19.8 | 19.4 | 20.3 |
| Third quartile (%)* | 21.3 | 23.2 | 18.6 |
| Four quartile (%)* | 21.7 | 25.7 | 16.3 |
| FY06 VA Primary Care encounters (SD)* | 3.8 (2.9) | 3.8 (2.9) | 3.7 (2.9) |
| Total FY06 Drug Classes (SD) | 7.5 (3.5) | 7.7 (3.6) | 7.1 (3.3) |
| Distance to main VA care facility (mi) (SD) | 24.3 (29.3) | 28.1 (31.5) | 19.2 (25.2) |
| Hospitalized during Q4 FY06 (%) | 2.4 | 3.1 | 1.4 |
| Inpatient days if in hospital (SD) | 6.8 (9.9) | 2.1 (7.3) | 2.2 (8.0) |
| Diagnosis Cost Group Score (SD) | 0.86 (0.59) | 0.89 (0.63) | 0.82 (0.52) |
| Diabetes Complication Severity Index (SD) | 3.8 (1.2) | 3.8 (1.2) | 3.8 (1.1) |
| Comorbid conditions—Vascular disease: | |||
| Atrial fibrilation or flutter (%) | 6.0 | 6.2 | 5.6 |
| Cerebrovascular: stroke or TIA (%) | 2.4 | 2.5 | 2.2 |
| Cerebrovascular: Non-stroke, non-TIA (%) | < 1 | 1.1 | 0.8 |
| Congestive heart failure (%) | 3.9 | 4.2 | 3.3 |
| Hypertension (%) | 63.5 | 65.3 | 61.0 |
| Ischemic heart disease (%) | 19.4 | 19.4 | 19.3 |
| Myocardial infarction (%) | 1.2 | 1.4 | 1.0 |
| Peripheral Vascular disease (%) | 1.2 | 1.4 | 1.0 |
| Mental or neurological illness: | |||
| Alcohol abuse (%) | 1.9 | 2.2 | 1.4 |
| Dementia (%) | < 1 | 1.0 | < 1 |
| Depression (%) | 8.3 | 8.8 | 7.6 |
| Post-traumatic stress disorder (%) | 6.8 | 7.2 | 6.2 |
| Schizophrenia (%) | 1.5 | 1.8 | 1.1 |
| Substance abuse, non-alcohol (%) | 6.9 | 7.5 | 6.2 |
| Other serious mental illness (%) | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.3 |
| Other conditions: | |||
| Chronic lung disease (%) | 7.4 | 8.0 | 6.7 |
| Chronic renal disease (%) | 2.3 | 2.8 | 1.7 |
| NPH insulin prescribed FY06- FY07 (%) | 8.8 | 9.6 | 7.8 |
| Warfarin prescribed FY06- FY07 (%) | 6.3 | 6.2 | 6.3 |
| Adherent to prescribed OHA regimen (%) | 70.6 | 69.9 | 71.4 |
| Adherent to any single OHA (%) | 79.6 | 79.0 | 80.5 |
SD standard deviation; mi mile; FY fiscal year; Q4 fourth quarter; TIA transient ischemic attack; NPH neutral protamine hagedorn; OHA oral hypoglycemic agent
*These additional variables were included for descriptive purposes, but were not included in the risk adjustment model