Table 2. Means of aggregated variables before intervention.
| variables | Intervention group | Control group | Difference between (a) and (b) | Share of missing observations (in %) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Un matched | matched | |||||
| (a) | (b) | (c) | ||||
| Outcome: Prescription rate (in %) | ||||||
| 2013 | 51.5 | 46.5 | 51.5 | 5.0 | 3.74 | |
| 2014 | 48.3 | 44.7 | 48.3 | 3.6 | 2.01 | |
| 2015 | 47.6 | 43.2 | 47.6 | 4.4 | 2.64 | |
| Number of URTI-patients | ||||||
| 2013 | 66.5 | 88.4 | 66.4 | -21.9 | 3.74 | |
| 2014 | 65.1 | 79.0 | 65.0 | -13.9 | 2.01 | |
| 2015 | 69.3 | 82.3 | 69.3 | -13.0 | 2.64 | |
| Share of cases (in %) | ||||||
| quarter | ||||||
| 2nd quarter | 22.3 | 21.8 | 22.3 | 0.5 | 0 | |
| 3rd quarter | 18.6 | 18.1 | 18.6 | 0.5 | 0 | |
| 4th quarter | 27.6 | 26.2 | 27.6 | 1.4 | 0 | |
| (Reference: 1st quarter) | ||||||
| diagnosis | ||||||
| sinusitis (J01) | 14.8 | 19.7 | 14.8 | -4.9 | 0 | |
| pharyngitis (J02) | 47.2 | 41.3 | 47.2 | 5.9 | 0 | |
| (Reference: bronchitis (J20)) | ||||||
| certainty | ||||||
| certain diagnosis | 99.3 | 97.9 | 99.3 | 1.4** | 0 | |
| service-type | ||||||
| Emergency services | 6.6 | 5.5 | 6.6 | 1.1 | 0 | |
| Patient demographics | ||||||
| Patients aged 35–65 | 55.0 | 51.5 | 55.0 | 3.5 | 0 | |
| Patients aged >65 | 13.6 | 14.0 | 13.6 | -0.4 | 0 | |
| Female patients | 59.4 | 60.6 | 59.4 | -1.2 | 0.02 | |
| sex-age interactions | ||||||
| Female patients aged 35–65 | 32.9 | 31.3 | 32.9 | 1.6 | 0.02 | |
| Female patients aged >65 | 7.9 | 8.5 | 7.9 | -0.6 | 0.02 | |
| Insurance status | ||||||
| Patients family insurance | 8.7 | 12.4 | 8.7 | -3.7* | 0 | |
| Patients pensioners insurance | 15.6 | 16.1 | 15.6 | -0.5 | 0 | |
| Physician characteristics | ||||||
| PCP specialty | ||||||
| General Internists (in %) | 23.5 | 26.4 | 23.5 | -2.9 | 0 | |
| (Reference: GP) | ||||||
| Female physician (in %) | 23.5 | 37.9 | 23.5 | -14.4 | 0 | |
| (Reference: male) | ||||||
| Physician age | 54.3 | 53.6 | 54.3 | 0.7 | 0.00 | |
| Number of PCPs | 17 | 1,460 | 17 | |||
The first three columns present means of selected variables used for the matching before intervention for trained controls and matched controls, respectively. The last column displays the differences between intervention and control group before matching. Significance levels: * 5%, ** 1%. Patient variables are aggregated on physician level by summing up (Number of URTI-patients) or computing as shares of cases.