Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of participating practices, health professionals, and adults with type 2 diabetes in Stepping Up model of care trial. Values are numbers (percentages) unless stated otherwise
| Characteristics | Intervention arm | Control arm |
|---|---|---|
| Practices | ||
| Primary care practices | 36 (49) | 38 (51) |
| Type of practice: | ||
| Private practice | 27 (75.0) | 31 (81.6) |
| Corporate practice | 7 (19.4) | 5 (13.2) |
| Community health centre | 2 (5.6) | 2 (5.3) |
| Location of practice: | ||
| Major city | 26 (72.2) | 21 (55.3) |
| Inner regional area | 9 (25.0) | 13 (34.2) |
| Outer regional area | 1 (2.8) | 4 (10.5) |
| Median (IQR) No of physicians per practice | 5 (4-9.5) | 5 (4-9) |
| Median (IQR) No of practice nurses per practice | 2.5 (2-3.5) | 2 (1-4) |
| Registered nurse with credentials for diabetes educator on site | 12 (33.3) | 14 (36.8) |
| Median (IQR) No of patients per full time equivalent general practitioner*† | 1738 (1176-2727) | 1316 (911-1726 |
| General practitioners | 83 (51.2) | 79 (48.8) |
| Mean (SD) age (years)‡ | 48.8 (9.9) | 49.7 (11.2) |
| Women | 34 (41.0) | 27 (34.2) |
| Working hours/week‡ | 36.6 (10.5) | 37.3 (11.6) |
| Median (IQR) years of experience | 19 (8-26) | 20 (7-30) |
| Experience with insulin initiation in preceding 12 months§ | 48 (60.0) | 36 (46.2) |
| Practice nurses | 48 (46.6) | 55 (53.4) |
| Mean (SD) age (years)¶ | 44.7 (10.2) | 46.0 (9.9) |
| Women | 48 (100) | 55 (100) |
| Diabetes educator training | 6 (12.5) | 7 (12.7) |
| Experience with insulin initiation in preceding 12 months | 16 (33.3) | 16 (29.1) |
| Adults with type 2 diabetes | 151 (56.8) | 115 (43.2) |
| Mean (SD) age (years) | 61.7 (9.7) | 62.0 (10.6) |
| Women | 62 (41.1) | 41 (35.7) |
| Highest level of education: | ||
| Primary or less | 14 (9.3) | 12 (10.4) |
| Secondary or trade | 101 (66.9) | 83 (72.2) |
| Tertiary | 36 (23.8) | 20 (17.4) |
| Employed | 67 (44.4) | 50 (43.5) |
| Healthcare card holder | 75 (49.7) | 62 (53.9) |
| Median (IQR) diabetes duration (years) | 8 (5-12) | 9 (5-14) |
| Median (IQR) HbA1c (%) | 8.7 (8.1-9.7) | 8.5 (8-9.6) |
| Median (IQR) HbA1c (mmol/mol) | 72 (65-83) | 69 (64-81) |
| Median (IQR) No of medical conditions | 3 (2-5) | 3 (2-5) |
| Median (IQR) No of drugs | 6 (5-10) | 7 (5-10) |
| Median (IQR) drug adherence rating scale** | 29 (26-30) | 29 (27-30) |
| Diabetes complications††: | ||
| Microvascular | 17 (11.3) | 16 (13.9) |
| Macrovascular | 22 (14.6) | 21 (18.3) |
| Total cholesterol(mmol/L)‡‡ | 4.3 (1.0) | 4.2 (1.1) |
| Triglycerides (mmol/L)†‡‡ | 1.9 (0.1) | 2.3 (1.4) |
| LDL cholesterol (mmol/L)§§ | 2.3 (0.9) | 2.1 (0.9) |
| HDL cholesterol (mmol/L)¶¶ | 1.2 (0.3) | 1.1 (0.3) |
| Estimated glomerular filtration rate*** | 79.4 (14.4) | 78.8 (14.6) |
| Blood pressure (mm Hg): | ||
| Systolic | 134.6 (15.7) | 133.5 (15.2) |
| Diastolic | 79.6 (11.1) | 78.5 (9.5) |
IQR=interquartile range; LDL=low density lipoprotein cholesterol; HDL=high density lipoprotein.
*Data available for 67 practices (33 intervention, 34 control).
†Statistically significant difference between control and intervention groups.
‡Data available for 161 GPs (82 intervention, 79 control).
§Data available for 158 GPs (84 intervention, 74 control).
¶Data available for 100 practice nurses (46 intervention, 54 control).
**Data available for 261 patients (149 intervention, 112 control).
††No (%) with at least one complication.
‡‡Data available for 256 patients (144 intervention, 112 control).
§§Data available for 222 patients (130 intervention, 92 control).
¶¶Data available for 233 patients (134 intervention, 99 control).
***Data available for 261 patients (147 intervention, 114 control).