Table 4.
Distribution of baseline patient characteristics by density of rheumatologists of the hospital referral region.
| Density of rheumatologists | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patient characteristics | Low | Medium | High | P value |
| Age* | ||||
| 65–69 | 34% | 32% | 29% | <0.001 |
| 70–74 | 26% | 25% | 24% | |
| 75–79 | 21% | 21% | 22% | |
| >=80 | 19% | 22% | 25% | |
| Sex* | ||||
| Male | 27% | 26% | 25% | <0.001 |
| Female | 73% | 74% | 75% | |
| Race* | ||||
| White | 90% | 87% | 88% | <0.001 |
| African-American | 6% | 7% | 8% | |
| Other | 3% | 5% | 4% | |
| Socioeconomic Status* | ||||
| Low | 25% | 20% | 11% | <0.001 |
| Medium | 31% | 29% | 21% | |
| High | 40% | 48% | 66% | |
| Missing | 4% | 4% | 2% | |
| Rural Status* | ||||
| Metropolitan county | 74% | 80% | 89% | <0.001 |
| Non-Metropolitan county | 22% | 18% | 9% | |
| Completely rural | 3% | 2% | 1% | |