Table 1.

Characteristics of home care clients in the WRHA and Ontario*

	WRHA (n = 6704)	ON (n = 5063)	p value
	%	%
Age
Mean (95% CI**)	76.0 (74.9, 77.0)	75.6 (75.2, 76.0)	0.49
18–64	13.4	16.5	<0.0001
65–74	16.5	19.2
75–84	39.9	40.7
85 and older	30.0	23.6
Sex
Female	69.2	70.5	0.14
Marital status
Never married	11.5	8.7	<0.0001
Married/widowed	79.4	82.7
Separated/divorced	8.2	7.9
Other	0.8	0.7
Primary language
English	85.6	85.1	0.63
French	3.5	3.8
Other	10.9	11.1
Aboriginal status
Origin is Inuit, Metis or North American Indian	3.2	1.6	<0.0001
Cognitive Performance Scale
Mean (95% CI)	0.8 (0.8, 0.8)	0.8 (0.8, 0.9)	0.07
0 – intact	63.0	60.4	<0.0001
1 – borderline intact	15.0	18.4
1 – borderline intact	15.0	18.4
2 – mild impairment	8.4	7.3
3 – moderate impairment	10.9	10.1
4 – moderate to severe impairment	0.8	1.0
5 – severe impairment	1.5	2.5
6 – very severe impairment	0.5	0.4
ADL Self-Performance Hierarchy Scale
Mean (95% CI)	0.5 (0.5, 0.6)	0.7 (0.6, 0.7)	<0.0001
0 – independent	78.0	72.9	<0.0001
1 – supervision required	5.2	7.9
2 – limited impairment	8.9	8.5
3 – extensive assistance required (level I)	4.7	5.4
4 – extensive assistance required (level II)	1.6	2.6
5 – dependent	1.1	2.0
6 – total dependence	0.5	0.7
Pain Scale
Mean (95% CI)	1.2 (1.2, 1.2)	1.3 (1.3, 1.4)	<0.0001
0 – no pain	39.8	34.9	<0.0001
1 – less than daily pain	14.4	14.1
2 – daily pain but not severe	31.6	33.8
3 – severe daily pain	14.2	17.2
Top 3 medical diagnoses***
Arthritis	49.4	44.8	<0.0001
Hypertension	42.2	37.4	<0.0001
Diabetes	19.1	20.1	0.24

* client characteristics and scale values based on first submitted MDS-HC assessment

** CI = confidence interval

*** disease was present and was or was not being treated or monitored by a home care professional