Table 1.
Baseline characteristics before and after propensity score matching by multidisciplinary assessment group
| Before matching | After matching | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RadOnc (n = 7079) | Urologist alone (n = 9587) | standardised difference | RadOnc (n = 5708) | Urologist alone (n = 5708) | standardised difference | |
| Demographics | ||||||
| Age (median, IQR) | 67 (62–73) | 65 (59–71) | 0.22 | 67 (61–72) | 66 (61–72) | 0.01 |
| Index year (n, %) | 0.07 | 0.00 | ||||
| 2010 | 2150 (30.4) | 3038 (31.7) | 1806 (31.6) | 1806 (31.6) | ||
| 2011 | 2506 (35.4) | 3484 (36.3) | 2065 (36.2) | 2065 (36.2) | ||
| 2012 | 1699 (24.0) | 2321 (24.2) | 1377 (24.1) | 1377 (24.1) | ||
| 2013 | 724 (10.2) | 744 (7.8) | 460 (8.1) | 460 (8.1) | ||
| Income quintile (n, %) | 0.03 | 0.00 | ||||
| 1 (lowest) | 985 (14.3) | 1449 (15.1) | 852 (14.9) | 852 (14.9) | ||
| 2 | 1234 (17.7) | 1755 (18.3) | 1034 (18.1) | 1034 (18.1) | ||
| 3 | 1383 (19.5) | 1876 (19.6) | 1086 (19.0) | 1086 (19.0) | ||
| 4 | 1619 (22.5) | 2124 (22.2) | 1271 (22.3) | 1271 (22.3) | ||
| 5 (highest) | 1832 (25.6) | 2353 (24.5) | 1465 (25.7) | 1465 (25.7) | ||
| Missing | 26 (0.4) | 30 (0.3) | 0 | 0 | ||
| Geographic region (n, %) | 0.08 | 0.01 | ||||
| Region 1 | 333 (4.7) | 425 (4.4) | 281 (4.9) | 287 (5.0) | ||
| Region 2 | 605 (8.5) | 822 (8.6) | 518 (9.1) | 528 (9.3) | ||
| Region 3 | 254 (3.6) | 542 (5.7) | 217 (3.8) | 224 (3.9) | ||
| Region 4 | 824 (11.6) | 1348 (14.1) | 725 (12.7) | 696 (12.2) | ||
| Region 5 | 298 (4.2) | 521 (5.4) | 259 (4.5) | 263 (4.6) | ||
| Region 6 | 481 (6.8) | 825 (8.6) | 421 (7.4) | 431 (7.6) | ||
| Region 7 | 465 (6.6) | 679 (7.1) | 410 (7.2) | 406 (7.1) | ||
| Region 8 | 911 (12.9) | 1103 (11.5) | 755 (13.2) | 733 (12.8) | ||
| Region 9 | 783 (11.1) | 1213 (12.7) | 689 (12.1) | 726 (12.7) | ||
| Region 10 | 322 (4.5) | 390 (4.1) | 274 (4.8) | 260 (4.6) | ||
| Region 11 | 1045 (14.8) | 713 (7.4) | 560 (9.8) | 528 (9.3) | ||
| Region 12 | 257 (3.6) | 424 (4.4) | 224 (3.9) | 231 (4.0) | ||
| Region 13 | 339 (4.8) | 476 (5.0) | 299 (5.2) | 315 (5.5) | ||
| Region 14 | 154 (2.2) | 100 (1.0) | 76 (1.3) | 80 (1.4) | ||
| Tumour-related factors | ||||||
| Prostate cancer risk (n, %) | 0.31 | 0.00 | ||||
| Low risk | 1029 (14.5) | 2591 (27.0) | 909 (15.9) | 909 (15.9) | ||
| Not low risk | 6050 (85.5) | 6996 (73.0) | 4799 (84.1) | 4799 (84.1) | ||
| Serum PSA level | ||||||
| Median (ng/mL) (IQR) | 7 (5-11) | 6 (5–9) | 0.27 | 7 (5-11) | 7 (5-10) | 0.16 |
| Categorical | 0.21 | 0.11 | ||||
| <10 ng/mL | 4957 (70.0) | 7583 (79.1) | 4066 (71.2) | 4334 (75.9) | ||
| ≥10 ng/mL | 2122 (30.0) | 2004 (20.9) | 1642 (28.8) | 1374 (24.1) | ||
| Gleason score (n, %) | 0.35 | 0.18 | ||||
| ≤6 | 1892 (26.7) | 4717 (49.2) | 1619 (28.4) | 2331 (40.8) | ||
| 7 | 3810 (53.8) | 3934 (41.0) | 3046 (53.4) | 2714 (47.5) | ||
| ≥8 | 1377 (19.5) | 936 (9.8) | 1043 (18.3) | 663 (11.6) | ||
| Stage (n, %) | 0.29 | 0.10 | ||||
| 1 | 1069 (15.1) | 2731 (28.5) | 943 (16.5) | 1002 (17.6) | ||
| 2 | 5092 (71.9) | 5410 (56.4) | 4028 (70.6) | 3734 (65.4) | ||
| 3 | 918 (13.0) | 1446 (15.1) | 737 (12.9) | 972 (17.0) | ||
| General medical care | ||||||
| Number of GP visits in year prior to diagnosis (median, IQR) | 5 (3–9) | 5 (3–9) | 0.06 | 5 (3–9) | 5 (3–9) | 0.00 |
| hospitalisation in year prior to diagnosis (n, %) | 463 (6.5) | 617 (6.4) | 0.00 | 347 (6.1) | 346 (6.1) | 0.00 |
| Ever resident of long-term care prior to diagnosis (n, %) | 6 (0.1) | 12 (0.3) | 0.01 | <5 | <5 | 0.01 |
| Comorbidity | ||||||
| RUB score (n, %) | 0.02 | 0.01 | ||||
| 0 | <5 | <5 | 0 | <5 | ||
| 1 | <5 | 2–6 | <5 | <5 | ||
| 2 | 250 (3.5) | 403 (4.2) | 215–219 | 205 (3.6) | ||
| 3 | 4455 (62.9) | 6162 (64.3) | 3678 (64.4) | 3673 (64.3) | ||
| 4 | 1574 (22.2) | 1997 (20.8) | 1207 (21.1) | 1232 (21.6) | ||
| 5 | 796 (11.2) | 1018 (10.6) | 603 (10.6) | 594 (10.4) | ||
| Diabetes diagnosis (n, %) | 1680 (23.7) | 2055 (21.4) | 0.05 | 1287 (22.5) | 1303 (22.8) | 0.01 |
| MI in 5 years prior (n, %) | 94 (1.3) | 104 (1.1) | 0.02 | 67 (1.2) | 62 (1.1) | 0.01 |
| CVA in 5 years prior (n, %) | 38 (0.5) | 25 (0.3) | 0.04 | 17 (0.3) | 12 (0.2) | 0.02 |
| History of CHF (n, %) | 302 (4.3) | 365 (3.8) | 0.02 | 230 (4.0) | 214 (3.7) | 0.01 |
| History of COPD (n, %) | 1072 (15.1) | 1359 (14.2) | 0.03 | 836 (14.6) | 827 (14.5) | 0.00 |
| History of hypertension (n, %) | 4287 (60.6) | 5481 (57.2) | 0.07 | 3372 (59.1) | 3432 (60.1) | 0.02 |
| History of arrhythmia (n, %) | 52 (0.7) | 57 (0.6) | 0.02 | 38 (0.7) | 38 (0.7) | 0.00 |
| History of dementia (n, %) | 105 (1.5) | 171 (1.8) | 0.02 | 70 (1.2) | 76 (1.3) | 0.01 |
| History of liver disease (n, %) | 23 (0.3) | 38 (0.4) | 0.01 | 20 (0.4) | 21 (0.4) | 0.00 |
| History of renal disease (n, %) | 175 (2.5) | 248 (2.6) | 0.01 | 137 (2.4) | 130 (2.3) | 0.01 |
Note: in order to comply with ICES privacy regulations, cell sizes smaller than 5 were suppressed. Where cells <5 would be calculable, the next smallest cell in the category was also suppressed. Note: Socioeconomic status was assessed using a standardised technique based on the income quintile of the patient’s neighborhood of residence. Geographic region was characterised using local health integration networks (LHINs), regions that plan and deliver health-care resources and thus affect a patient’s access to care20
GP general practitioner, RUB resource utilisation band, a measure of comorbidity derived from the Johns Hopkins ADG system, MI myocardial infarction, CVA cerebrovascular accident, CHF congestive heart failure, COPD chronic obstructive pulmonary disease