Table 1.
Sample characteristics, by status (non-frequent attenders vs. frequent attenders), wave 2 (2002) to wave 4 (2011)
| Variables | GP visits | Specialist visits | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-frequent attenders (n = 541) | Frequent attenders (n = 508) | p-value | Non-frequent attenders (n = 947) | Frequent attenders (n = 915) | p-value | |
| Age in years: Mean (SD) | 66.9 (10.6) | 66.3 (65.4) | 0.42 | 64.0 (10.9) | 64.0 (10.9) | 0.93 |
| Married, living together with spouse (Ref.: Others): N (%) | 373 (51.4%) | 353 (48.6%) | 0.85 | 704 (50.8%) | 681 (49.2%) | 0.97 |
| Employment status: N (%) | 0.05 | 0.34 | ||||
| - Working | 125 (53.2%) | 110 (46.8%) | 312 (52.1%) | 287 (47.9%) | ||
| - Retired | 368 (52.8%) | 329 (47.2%) | 534 (51.1%) | 511 (48.9%) | ||
| - Not employed | 48 (41.0%) | 69 (59.0%) | 101 (46.3%) | 117 (53.7%) | ||
| Household net income in Euro | 2443.9 (1902.5) | 2507.7 (2585.4) | 0.65 | 2690.7 (3528.8) | 2681.9 (1700.0) | 0.95 |
| Number of physical illnesses: Mean (SD); Range | 3.1 (2.0) | 3.4 (1.9) | < 0.05 | 2.5 (1.7) | 2.8 (1.7) | < 0.001 |
| Physical functioning (from 0 = worst to 100 = best) | 79.3 (23.1) | 74.2 (25.2) | < 0.001 | 83.2 (21.7) | 79.7 (23.1) | < 0.001 |
| Self-rated health (from 1 = very good to 5 = very bad) | 2.7 (0.8) | 2.9 (0.8) | < 0.001 | 2.5 (0.8) | 2.6 (0.8) | < 0.001 |
| Absence of depression (CES-D ≥ 18) | 501 (52.5%) | 453 (47.5%) | 0.05 | 887 (51.3%) | 842 (48.7%) | 0.17 |
| Cognitive function (higher values reflect better cognitive function, ranging from 1 to 92) | 41.6 (13.7) | 40.5 (14.4) | 0.25 | 43.7 (14.0) | 43.9 (13.6) | 0.86 |
| Loneliness: Mean (SD) | 1.7 (0.5) | 1.7 (0.5) | 0.18 | 1.7 (0.5) | 1.7 (0.6) | 0.40 |
N number, SD standard deviation, Comparisons between the two groups were done using t-test and chi-square procedures