Table 1.
Characteristics of Medicare beneficiaries with dementia by continuity of care tertile before propensity weightinga
| Continuity of Care Index | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristic | Overall | Low | Medium | High |
| Beneficiaries, No. (%) | 1416369 (100) | 486276 (34.3) | 445710 (31.5) | 484383 (34.2) |
| Age, mean (SD)b | 81.0 (7.51) | 79.9 (7.31) | 80.9 (7.44) | 82.3 (7.60) |
| Sex, No. (%) | ||||
| Female | 896010 (63.3) | 279423 (57.5) | 279344 (62.7) | 337243 (69.6) |
| Race/ethnicity, No. (%) | ||||
| White | 1174538 (82.9) | 418030 (86.0) | 370264 (83.1) | 386244 (79.7) |
| Black | 118168 (8.3) | 35333 (7.3) | 36551 (8.2) | 46284 (9.6) |
| Hispanic | 78244 (5.5) | 21636 (4.5) | 24822 (5.6) | 31786 (6.6) |
| Other | 45419 (3.2) | 11277 (2.3) | 14073 (3.2) | 20069 (4.1) |
| Dual eligible, No. (%) | 291020 (20.6) | 77011 (15.8) | 90950 (20.4) | 123059 (25.4) |
| Median household income, mean (SD), $c |
57934 (27522) | 60466 (28424) | 57766 (27293) | 55549 (26575) |
| Chronic conditions, mean (SD) | 2.16 (1.90) | 2.40 (2.04) | 2.32 (1.91) | 1.78 (1.69) |
| Chronic condition, No. (%) | ||||
| Coronary artery disease | 131917 (9.3) | 54112 (11.1) | 45899 (10.3) | 31906 (6.6) |
| Congestive heart failure | 291661 (20.6) | 107114 (22.0) | 100102 (22.5) | 84445 (17.4) |
| Diabetes mellitus | 400309 (28.3) | 136761 (28.1) | 132369 (29.7) | 131179 (27.1) |
| Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease |
242085 (17.1) | 87691 (18.0) | 81176 (18.2) | 73218 (15.1) |
| HCC score, mean (SD) | 1.64 (1.21) | 1.77 (1.32) | 1.73 (1.23) | 1.44 (1.03) |
| Health utilization, mean (SD) | ||||
| Ambulatory visits | 13.6 (9.17) | 15.6 (10.04) | 14.8 (8.92) | 10.5 (7.52) |
| Visits to primary care providers | 7.6 (6.03) | 6.8 (5.58) | 8.3 (6.25) | 7.9 (6.16) |
| Visits to specialty providers | 5.5 (6.10) | 8.2 (6.72) | 6.0 (5.59) | 2.3 (4.15) |
| Unique doctors seen | 4.8 (2.91) | 7.1 (3.04) | 4.8 (1.87) | 2.5 (1.3) |
| Continuity of care scored | 0.35 (0.25) | 0.13 (0.05) | 0.28 (0.05) | 0.64 (0.22) |
| Predominant provider, No. (%) | ||||
| Primary Care | 1083454 (76.5) | 310427 (63.8) | 343098 (77.0) | 429929 (88.8) |
| Specialist | 332915 (23.5) | 175849 (36.2) | 102612 (23.0) | 54454 (11.2) |
| Proportion of visits to predominant provider, mean (SD) |
53.7 (22.2) | 32.5 (8.4) | 49.2 (7.5) | 79.0 (14.2) |
SD = standard deviation; HCC = hierarchical condition categories score
a
2012 characteristics of fee-for-service beneficiaries with 4 or more ambulatory visits who survived the entire year.
b
Age on January 1, 2012
c
Based on 2010 tract median household income.
d
Range 0 to 1, higher score indicates higher continuity.