TABLE 2. Frequency of healthcare services utilization by episode cost group.
| Index episode (%) |
Follow-up episode (%) |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Persistently high cost (n = 100) | Occasionally high cost (n = 309) | Persistently low cost (n = 773) | Persistently high cost (n = 100) | Occasionally high cost (n = 309) | Persistently low-cost (n = 773) | |
| No. of hospital admissions* | ||||||
| 0 | 0.0 | 25.2 | 77.2 | 0.0 | 42.4 | 88.6 |
| 1 | 85.0 | 68.3 | 22.8 | 92.0 | 50.8 | 11.4 |
| 2+ | 15.0 | 6.5 | 0.0 | 8.0 | 6.8 | 0.0 |
| No. of SCU admissions* | ||||||
| 0 | 89.0 | 93.5 | 98.7 | 89.0 | 93.8 | 99.2 |
| 1+ | 11.0 | 6.5 | 1.3 | 11.0 | 6.2 | 0.8 |
| No. of ED visits* | ||||||
| 0 | 54.0 | 61.8 | 83.3 | 38.0 | 61.2 | 81.7 |
| 1 | 38.0 | 31.4 | 15.7 | 51.0 | 32.4 | 15.8 |
| 2+ | 8.0 | 6.8 | 1.0 | 11.0 | 6.4 | 2.5 |
| No. of FP visits* | ||||||
| 0 | 39.0 | 31.0 | 15.7 | 38.0 | 24.9 | 12.7 |
| 1 | 19.0 | 24.0 | 43.6 | 19.0 | 33.3 | 48.9 |
| 2+ | 42.0 | 45.0 | 40.7 | 43.0 | 41.8 | 38.4 |
| No. of specialist visits* | ||||||
| 0 | 40.0 | 51.8 | 77.1 | 35.0 | 54.7 | 81.4 |
| 1 | 8.0 | 11.7 | 11.0 | 13.0 | 16.2 | 10.2 |
| 2+ | 52.0 | 36.5 | 11.9 | 52.0 | 29.1 | 8.4 |
| No. of different drugs | ||||||
| Mean (SD) | 10.0 (11.5) | 7.1 (7.4) | 4.7 (6.3) | 9.5 (11.4) | 8.6 (18.5) | 4.3 (5.0) |
| Median | 6 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 3 |
*
Note: Utilization distributions in the three cost groups are significantly different using a χ2 test at p < 0.001. SCU, special care unit; ED, emergency department; FP, family practitioner; SD, standard deviation.