Table 3.
Descriptive statistics of baseline patient characteristics, number of exacerbations (over 4 months), contacts and cost (over 12 months) pre-intervention and post-intervention per patient by trial arm
| Patient characteristics | Baseline (1 September 2013) | Post-intervention | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Letter (N = 3641) | No letter (N = 4549) | Letter (N = 3641) | No letter (N = 4549) | |
| Age, mean (median [range]) | 10.8 (11 [5–16]) | 10.8 (11 [5–16]) | NA | NA |
| Sex, M/F (%) | M 60.2; F 39.8 | M 60.6; F 39.4 | NA | NA |
| Exacerbations; resource-use; costs | Baseline (pre-intervention, 12 months) | Post-intervention (exacerbations, 4 months; contacts and costs, 12 months) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean no. of exacerbations (SD [range]) (exacerbation period: 1 week) | NA | NA | 2.50 (2.19 [0–14]) | 2.41 (2.19 [0–16]) |
| Mean no. of contacts* (SD [range]) | ||||
| Scheduled | 2.77 (2.63 [0–29]) | 2.74 (2.69 [0—36]) | 2.60 (2.72 [0—22]) | 2.69 (2.85 [0—30]) |
| Unscheduled | 10.53 (8.03 [0–79]) | 10.44 (8.67 [0–127]) | 9.39 (8.32 [0–73]) | 9.36 (9.22 [0–101]) |
| ‘Not relevant’ | 4.31 (4.48 [0–52]) | 3.97 (4.54 [0–60]) | 4.17 (4.79 [0–45]) | 3.75 (4.73 [0–60]) |
| Total no. contactsa | 17.61 (12.47 [0–115]) | 17.14 (13.38 [0–168]) | 16.16 (13.30 [0–120]) | 15.80 (14.42 [0–163]) |
| Mean costs (95% CI), median (range) | ||||
| Scheduled | 178 (167–190), 41 (0–3871) | 160 (150–169), 41 (0–5554) | 169 (158–181), 27 (0–3857) | 173 (163–183), 41 (0–3839) |
| Unscheduled | 305 295–316), 208 (0–3181) | 315 (305–326), 212 (0–4027) | 266 (255–277), 146 (0–4661) | 283 (272–294), 186 (0–8010) |
| ‘Not relevant’ | 215 (202–228), 1 (0–5727) | 197 (186–209), 1 (0–4111) | 204 (191–217), 1 (0–6149) | 205 (193–218), 1 (0–7675) |
| Total contact costsb | 699 (672–725), 435 (0–8597) | 672 (649–696), 408 (0–8919) | 639 (612–667), 342 (0–8829) | 662 (636–688), 358 (0–13,411) |
| Prescriptions | 62 (59–66), 27 (0–1141) | 55 (52–57), 20 (0–808) | 55 (52–59), 20 (0–849) | 49 (47–52), 16 (0–789) |
| Total costsc | 761 (734–789), 498 (0–8622) | 727 (703–751), 468 (0–8997) | 695 (666–723), 402 (0–8921) | 711 (684–738), 412 (0–13,484) |
| Intervention | 0 | 0 | 1.34 | 0 |
| Total costs and intervention costd | 761 (734–789), 498 (0–8622)* | 727 (703–751), 468 (0–8997)* | 696 (668–725), 403 (1–8922)# | 711 (684–738), 412 (0–13,484)# |
T test for unequal variance used to assess statistically significant difference in total and intervention cost between trial arms at *baseline, p value = 0.069 and #post-intervention, p value = 0.460
CI confidence interval, Exacs exacerbations, F female, M male, NA not applicable, No. number, SD standard deviation
aTotal number of contacts = the number of scheduled contacts plus the number of unscheduled contacts plus the number of ‘not relevant’ contacts per patient
bTotal contact costs = the cost for scheduled contacts plus the cost for unscheduled contacts plus the cost for ‘not relevant’ contacts per patient
cTotal costs = total contact costs plus the cost for the prescriptions per patient
dTotal costs and intervention cost = Total costs plus the cost of the letter intervention (note, the letter intervention cost is only applied for the post-intervention period)