Table 3.
Health care utilization in an elderly population (≥65 years of age) with and without multimorbidity
| Health care utilization mean number (SD) per year | Total study sample (n = 229493) | Non-multi-morbid (n = 53741) | Multi-morbid (n = 175752) | Sign. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consultations (total) | 13.1 (13.7) | 4.4 (6.3) | 15.7 (14.2) | *** |
| By primary care physicians | 6.1 (6.7) | 1.9 (3.1) | 7.4 (7.0) | *** |
| By specialists | 4.3 (6.4) | 1.8 (3.4) | 5.1 (6.8) | *** |
| Hospital outpatient visits | 2.7 (7.9) | 0.7 (3.0) | 3.2 (8.8) | *** |
| Physician contacts | ||||
| Face-to-face consultations | 8.1 (7.6) | 2.9 (4.0) | 9.7 (7.8) | *** |
| Phone consultations | 0.5 (1.6) | 0.1 (0.6) | 0.7 (1.8) | *** |
| home visits | 0.2 (1.6) | 0.0 (0.6) | 0.3 (1.8) | *** |
| Different ATCs1 | 10.7 (8.3) | 2.4 (2.9) | 13.3 (7.8) | *** |
| Different physicians contacted | ||||
| Total | 2.9 (2.1) | 1.5 (1.6) | 3.3 (2.1) | *** |
| Different primary care physicians | 1.1 (0.7) | 0.6 (0.6) | 1.2 (0.7) | *** |
| Different specialists | 1.8 (1.9) | 0.9 (1.3) | 2.1 (1.9) | *** |
| Hospitalisations2 | 1.5 (0.9) | 1.2 (0.5) | 1.5 (0.9) | *** |
| Length of hospital stay2 | 13.9 (20.9) | 7.9 (18.3) | 14.3 (21.0) | *** |
| Acute hospitals | 11.0 (16.0) | 6.0 (9.1) | 11.3 (16.2) | *** |
| Psychiatric hospitals | 0.9 (9.6) | 0.7 (9.6) | 1.0 (9.7) | |
| Others (e.g. rehabilitations) | 2.0 (8.6) | 1.2 (12.6) | 2.0 (8.3) | *** |
***p-value <0.001 **p-value <0.01 *p-value <0.05.
1ATC = Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical.
2only in patients with at least one hospitalisation.