Table 2.
Baseline characteristics of the 3592 hypertension patients in the intervention and control groups between 2009 and 2015
| Control N = 1678 |
Intervention N = 1914 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demographics | N | % | N | % |
| Age | ||||
| < 60 years old | 449 | 26.8 | 474 | 24.8 |
| 60 to 74 years old | 870 | 51.8 | 1044 | 54.5 |
| > 74 years old | 359 | 21.4 | 396 | 20.7 |
| Sex | ||||
| Female | 891 | 53.1 | 1100 | 57.5 |
| Male | 787 | 46.9 | 814 | 42.5 |
| Language | ||||
| English | 223 | 13.3 | 115 | 6.0 |
| French | 1455 | 86.7 | 1799 | 94.0 |
| Estimated family income | ||||
| Low income (< $35,000) | 344 | 20.5 | 457 | 23.9 |
| Middle income ($35,000–$80,000) | 1148 | 68.4 | 1272 | 66.5 |
| High income (> $80,000) | 186 | 11.1 | 185 | 9.7 |
| Comorbidity | ||||
| Charlson index value | ||||
| 0 | 1121 | 66.8 | 1255 | 65.6 |
| 1 | 388 | 23.1 | 443 | 23.1 |
| 1+ | 169 | 10.1 | 216 | 11.3 |
| Diabetes | 292 | 17.4 | 341 | 17.8 |
| COPD | 119 | 7.1 | 153 | 7.9 |
| Any tumor (except metastatic) | 101 | 6.0 | 133 | 6.9 |
| Metastatic solid tumor | 41 | 2.4 | 30 | 1.6 |
| Connective tissue disease | 18 | 1.1 | 25 | 1.3 |
| Peripheral vascular disease | 13 | 0.8 | 17 | 0.8 |
| Dementia | 9 | 0.5 | 12 | 0.6 |
| Leukemia/lymphoma | 12 | 0.7 | 11 | 0.6 |
| Mild liver disease | 5 | 0.3 | 8 | 0.4 |
| Ulcer disease | 2 | 0.1 | 4 | 0.2 |
| Renal disease | – | – | 1 | 0.1 |
| HIV positive | 2 | 0.1 | 2 | 0.1 |
| Diabetes with end organ damage | 1 | 0.1 | 4 | 0.2 |
| Hemiplegia | 1 | 0.1 | – | – |
| Health care use in the year prior to first eligible visit | Mean | SD | Mean | SD |
| Medical visits | ||||
| Total number of visits | 6.3 | 6.5 | 6.3 | 6.7 |
| Mean % to study physician | 41.1 | 34.4 | 38.6 | 33.6 |
| Number of distinct physicians seen | 3.4 | 3.3 | 3.6 | 3.3 |
| Prescriptions | ||||
| No. of medications prescribed | 2.3 | 3.4 | 1.4 | 2.7 |
| No. of medications dispensed | 4.6 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.6 |
| Percentage of dispensed prescribed by study physician | 49.8 | 45.2 | 50.0 | 44.9 |
| Hospitalization(s) | N | % | N | % |
| Yes | 181 | 10.8 | 196 | 10.2 |
| No | 1497 | 89.2 | 1718 | 89.8 |
| ER visit(s) | ||||
| Yes | 375 | 22.3 | 407 | 21.3 |
| No | 1303 | 77.7 | 1507 | 78.7 |
| Status of anti-hypertensive drug use at first visit (ICD9 code = 401) | ||||
| Incidenta | 636 | 37.9 | 625 | 32.7 |
| Prevalentb | 1042 | 62.1 | 1289 | 67.3 |
| Hypertension management 12 ms before the first visit (prevalent) | Mean | SD | Mean | SD |
| No. of different anti-hypertensives prescribed | 1.3 | 0.6 | 1.3 | 0.5 |
| No. of different anti-hypertensives dispensed | 1.3 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 0.5 |
| Percentage of different dispensed anti-hypertensives prescribed by study physician | 93.6 | 19.1 | 94.3 | 17.9 |
aThe patient does not have a dispensed anti-hypertensive over the past 6 months and has a diagnosis of essential hypertension in their problem list (ICD9 = 401)
bThe patient has dispensed anti-HNT over the past 6 months and has a diagnosis of essential hypertension in their problem list (ICD9 = 401)