Table 2.
Unadjusted and Adjusted Analysis of Sex Differences in the Medical Care of VA patients with chronic non-cancer pain.
| Women (n=1945) n (%) | Men (n=15,638) n (%) | Unadjusted OR (95% CI) | Model 1: Adjusted OR (AOR) (95% CI)† | Model 2: AOR (95% CI)‡ | Model 3: AOR (95% CI)§ | Model 4: AOR (95% CI)|| | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chronic Opioid | |||||||
| Prescription | 532 (27.4) | 5125 (32.8) | |||||
| Women | 0.77 (0.67–0.90) | 0.73 (0.62–0.85) | 0.70 (0.60–0.82) | 0.66 (0.57–0.77) | 0.67 (0.58–0.78) | ||
| Physical therapy | 533 (27.4) | 3532 (22.6) | |||||
| Women | 1.29 (1.14–1.46) | 1.26 (1.12–1.42) | 1.21 (1.08–1.35) | 1.18 (1.05–1.32) | 1.19 (1.05–1.33) | ||
| ED Visit for pain | 233 (12.0) | 1311 (8.4) | |||||
| Women | 1.48 (1.35–1.63) | 1.50 (1.28–1.74) | 1.48 (1.25–1.76) | 1.39 (1.17–1.66) | 1.40 (1.18–1.65) | ||
| PCP Utilization | |||||||
| ≤ 1 visits/year | 616 (31.7) | 2228 (14.2) | |||||
| Women | 2.79 (0.90–8.62) | 2.57 (0.83–7.98) | 2.69 (0.89–8.18) | 2.76 (0.90–8.53) | 2.78 (0.90–8.56) | ||
| 2–4 visits/year | 522 (26.8) | 5167 (33.0) | |||||
| Women | 0.74 (0.52–1.06) | 0.70 (0.49–1.02) | 0.72 (0.50–1.03) | 0.72 (0.51–1.02) | 0.71 (0.50–1.00) | ||
| 5–8 visits/year | 386 (19.8) | 4294 (27.5) | |||||
| Women | 0.65 (0.40–1.08) | 0.67 (0.40–1.12) | 0.66 (0.39–1.11) | 0.66 (0.39–1.12) | 0.66 (0.39–1.13) | ||
| ≥9 visits/year | 421 (21.6) | 3949 (25.3) | |||||
| Women | 0.82 (0.48–1.40) | 0.90 (0.54–1.50) | 0.87 (0.53–1.41) | 0.85 (0.50–1.42) | 0.87 (0.52–1.45) | ||
| PCP Call | |||||||
| >10 times/year | 206 (10.6) | 1600 (10.2) | |||||
| Women | 1.04 (0.89–1.21) | 1.23 (1.05–1.43) | 1.20 (1.02–1.42) | 1.13 (0.96–1.35) | 1.20 (1.01–1.44) | ||
Note. All analyses clustered by VA VISN-20 Site. In all analyses, male is the reference category.
Variables in Model 1, Demographics characteristics: age, sex, revised marital status, race, and service connection.
Variables in Model 2, Demographics characteristics + pain conditions: average pain score, fibromyalgia, neck pain, arthritis, low back pain, inflammatory bowel disease, neuropathy, multiple pain diagnoses
Variables in Model 3, Demographics characteristics + pain conditions + mental health and substance use disorders: major depressive disorder, dysthymia, bipolar disorder, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, other anxiety disorder, tobacco use, alcohol abuse or dependence, cannabis abuse or dependence, opioid abuse or dependence, other drug use or dependence.
Variables in Model 4, Demographics characteristics + pain conditions + mental health and substance use disorders + Charlson Comorbidity Index.