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. 2014 Mar 4;4(3):e003759. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2013-003759

Table 3.

Comparison of characteristics of individuals in each recommendation category (based on primary recommendation)

In control N=14 989
Not well controlled N=1245
Maintain n=9564 Maintain/decrease n=4349 Decrease n=474 Duplicate/inappropriate n=602 Increase n=1090 Refer n=17 Duplicate/inappropriate n=138
Age mean (SD) 41.8 (19.2) 38.2 (22.7) 44.8 (21.6) 45.9 (20.3) 40.4 (21.5) 57.1 (9.3) 46.6 (16.0)
Age n (%)
 ≤17 919 (9.6) 1115 (25.6) 74 (15.6) 68 (11.3) 189 (17.3) 0 6 (4.4)
 18–39 3561 (37.2) 996 (22.9) 86 (18.1) 123 (20.4) 310 (28.4) 0 33 (23.9)
 40–59 2987 (31.2) 1269 (29.2) 195 (41.1) 260 (43.2) 372 (34.1) 10 (58.8) 79 (57.2)
 ≥60 2097 (21.9) 969 (22.3) 119 (25.1) 151 (25.1) 219 (20.1) 7 (41.2) 20 (14.5)
Sex n (% female) 6073 (63.5) 2659 (61.1) 303 (63.9) 381 (63.3) 709 (65.0) 12 (70.6) 101 (73.2)
Income n (%) *
 Low SES 1684 (17.6) 923 (21.2) 117 (24.7) 156 (25.9) 237 (21.7) 4 (23.5) 43 (31.2)
 Middle SES 7028 (73.5) 3161 (72.7) 330 (69.6) 420 (69.8) 802 (73.6) 13 (76.5) 90 (65.2)
 High SES 763 (8.0) 228 (5.2) 25 (5.3) 22 (3.6) 47 (4.3) 0 5 (3.6)
Medical visits mean (SD) past year
 All 8.78 (13.1) 9.68 (13.8) 12.62 (13.3) 12.87 (13.4) 16.52 (22.2) 29.29 (21.3) 24.99 (26.1)
 Ambulatory 7.72 (9.6) 8.31 (9.2) 10.89 (9.5) 11.13 (9.5) 13.53 (15.0) 19.94 (10.0) 20.01 (18.1)
 Hospitalised 1.07 (6.8) 1.37 (7.7) 1.73 (7.4) 1.73 (7.6) 2.99 (11.6) 9.35 (16.4) 4.98 (13.3)
Medical visits n (%) past year
 Physician
  0 1036 (10.8) 265 (6.1) 14 (3.0) 22 (3.6) 62 (5.7) 0 7 (5.1)
  1 1048 (10.96) 451 (10.4) 31 (6.5) 40 (6.6) 76 (7.0) 0 5 (3.6)
  2 1000 (10.5) 486 (11.2) 41 (8.6) 26 (4.3) 81 (7.4) 0 2 (1.4)
  3 or more 6480 (67.8) 3147 (72.4) 388 (81.9) 514 (85.4) 871 (79.9) 17 (100) 124 (89.9)
ER visits
 0 5995 (62.7) 2501 (57.5) 240 (50.6) 289 (48.0) 200 (18.4) 1 (5.9) 25 (18.1)
 1 1565 (16.4) 790 (18.2) 89 (18.8) 118 (19.6) 221 (20.3) 3 (17.6) 21 (15.2)
 2 846 (8.8) 414 (9.5) 59 (12.4) 63 (10.5) 172 (15.8) 1 (5.9) 9 (6.5)
 3 or more 1158 (12.1) 644 (14.8) 86 (18.1) 132 (21.9) 497 (45.6) 12 (70.6) 83 (60.2)
ED visits for respiratory problems
 0 8781 (91.8) 3792 (87.2) 394 (83.1) 491 (81.6) 294 (27.0) 4 (23.5) 38 (27.5)
 1 593 (6.2) 402 (9.2) 52 (11.0) 64 (10.6) 450 (41.3) 4 (23.5) 27 (19.6)
 2 142 (1.5) 105 (2.4) 15 (3.2) 25 (4.2) 188 (17.2) 3 (17.65) 22 (15.9)
 3 or more 48 (0.5) 50 (1.2) 13 (2.7) 22 (3.7) 158 (14.5) 6 (35.3) 51 (37.0)
ED visits NOT for respiratory problems
 0 6268 (65.5) 2712 (62.4) 265 (55.9) 326 (54.2) 456 (41.8) 4 (23.5) 45 (32.6)
 1 1535 (16.1) 742 (17.1) 94 (19.8) 118 (19.6) 205 (18.8) 3 (17.6) 29 (21.0)
 2 746 (7.8) 370 (8.5) 49 (10.3) 58 (9.6) 117 (10.7) 3 (17.6) 14 (10.1)
 3 or more 1015 (10.6) 525 (12.1) 66 (13.9) 100 (16.6) 312 (28.6) 7 (41.2) 50 (36.2)
Hospitalisation (days)
 0 8046 (84.1) 3581 (82.3) 356 (75.1) 449 (74.6) 774 (71.0) 5 (29.4) 78 (56.5)
 1 697 (7.3) 318 (7.3) 39 (8.2) 62 (10.3) 100 (9.2) 3 (17.6) 17 (12.3)
 2 215 (2.2) 107 (2.5) 20 (4.2) 23 (3.8) 44 (4.0) 1 (5.9) 3 (2.2)
 3 or more 606 (6.3) 343 (7.9) 59 (12.4) 68 (11.3) 172 (15.8) 8 (47.1) 40 (29.0)
Hospitalisation for respiratory problems (days)
 0 9370 (98.0) 4210 (96.8) 447 (94.3) 563 (93.5) 990 (90.8) 14 (82.4) 109 (79.0)
 1 100 (1.0) 60 (1.4) 7 (1.5) 20 (3.3) 33 (3.0) 0 7 (5.1)
 2 32 (0.3) 32 (0.74) 4 (0.8) 5 (0.8) 14 (1.3) 0 3 (2.2)
 3 or more 62 (0.6) 47 (1.1) 16 (3.4) 14 (2.3) 53 (4.9) 3 (17.6) 19 (13.8)
Asthma medications mean (SD) range past year
 FABA 0.61 (1.7) 2.93 (3.8) 4.32 (5.2) 4.95 (5.1) 2.50 (4.4) 5.00 (5.2) 6.82 (6.8)
 ICS 0.2 (0.7) 2.3 (2.9) 1.4 (2.6) 3.6 (3.8) 1.4 (2.4) 0.9 (1.7) 3.5 (3.9)
 Leukotrienes 0.1 (1.4) 0.4 (3.0) 6.7 (10.0) 1.5 (4.8) 0.8 (4.4) 3.3 (5.1) 3.9 (11.5)
 Combination therapy 0.0 (0.4) 1.2 (2.9) 5.1 (4.9) 2.18 (3.9) 1.0 (2.7) 7.7 (4.5) 3.0 (4.3)
 Other 0.2 (1.8) 0.8 (3.4) 2.9 (6.8) 2.36 (3.9) 1.8 (17.0) 2.1 (2.5) 4.45 (6.6)
Control status n (%)
 Overuse FABA 0 0 0 0 1 (0.1) 0 0
 ER visits for Asthma 0 0 0 0 1076 (98.7) 17 (100) 135 (97.8)
 ER or FABA 0 0 0 0 1076 (98.7) 17 (100) 135 (97.8)
Comorbidity Index 1.6 (1.5) 1.6 (1.5) 1.8 (1.6) 1.9 (1.9) 1.8 (2.0) 2.2 (1.4) 2.6 (2.5)

Less than 1% of missing values for each category.

ED, emergency department; FABA, fast-acting β agonist; SES, socioeconomic status.