Table 1.
Descriptive statistics for control physicians, course participants matched with control physicians, and course participants not matched with control physicians
| VARIABLE | CONTROL PHYSICIANS (N = 105), VALUE |
COURSE PARTICIPANTS MATCHED WITH CONTROL PHYSICIANS (N = 105)
|
COURSE PARTICIPANTS NOT MATCHED WITH CONTROL PHYSICIANS (N = 33)
|
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VALUE | STANDARDIZED DIFFERENCE | VALUE | STANDARDIZED DIFFERENCE | ||
| Mean (SD) age, y | 48.6 (10.4) | 48.5 (10.4) | 0.01 | 56.6 (9.8) | 0.78 |
| Male sex, N (%) | 84 (80.0) | 84 (80.0) | 0 | 25 (75.8) | 0.10 |
| Main specialty, N (%) | |||||
| • GPs and family physicians | 90 (85.7) | 90 (85.7) | 0 | 30 (90.9) | 0.15 |
| • Other | 15 (14.3) | 15 (14.3) | 0 | ≤ 5 (9.1) | 0.15 |
| Rural residence, N (%) | 8 (7.6) | 16 (15.2) | 0.24 | ≤ 5 (6.1) | 0.06 |
| Mean (SD) no. of patients | 5995 (3620) | 5074 (2990) | 0.28 | 8112 (4947) | 0.53 |
| Mean (SD) no. of years practising medicine | 23.3 (10.6) | 21.8 (11.6) | 0.13 | 31.5 (9.7) | 0.8 |
| Mean (SD) no. of ODB-eligible patients in year before course | 232.5 (189.3) | 230.2 (192.5) | 0.01 | 548.5 (333.6) | 1.36 |
| Mean (SD) no. of ODB-eligible patients aged 15–64 in year before course | 65.7 (53.2) | 66.5 (53.9) | 0.01 | 210.3 (157.0) | 1.61 |
| Mean (SD) no. of ODB-eligible patients aged ≥ 65 in year before course | 166.7 (152.4) | 163.6 (157.2) | 0.02 | 338.2 (216.5) | 1.01 |
| Median (IQR) no. of opioid prescriptions dispensed in year before course | 95 (22–278) | 96 (18–273) | 0 | 745 (383–1577) | 1.47 |
| Median (IQR) no. of opioid prescriptions dispensed to patients aged 15–64 in year before course | 31 (6–118) | 43 (9–130) | 0.1 | 558 (145–870) | 1.29 |
| Median (IQR) no. of opioid prescriptions dispensed to patients aged ≥ 65 in year before course | 42 (10–124) | 26 (6–99) | 0.08 | 278 (58–481) | 1.12 |
IQR—interquartile range, ODB—Ontario Drug Benefit.