Table 3.
Baseline characteristics of patients in the OPTICA trial compared to other multimorbid patients with polypharmacy in the FIRE database
| Characteristics | OPTICA study participants1 (N = 323) | Patients in the FIRE database2 (N = 22′907) | P-value3 | Absolute standardized difference4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median age (IQR) | 77 (73–83) | 78 (72–84) | 0.630 | 0.053 |
| Sex | ||||
| Women (%) | 146 (45) | 12′699 (55) | 0.001 | 0.206 |
| Men (%) | 177 (55) | 10′207 (45) | ||
| Median number of chronic conditions (IQR)5 | 4 (3–6) | 3 (3–5) | < 0.001 | 0.422 |
| Median number of medications in the last 12 months (IQR)6 | 6 (5–9) | 7 (5–8) | < 0.001 | 0.23 |
| Health services use (in the last 12 months) | ||||
| Median number of consultations (IQR) | 16 (10–25) | 13 (7–22) | < 0.001 | 0.216 |
| Median number of blood pressure measurements (IQR) | 3 (2–5) | 2 (1–4) | < 0.001 | 0.276 |
| Median number of Body Mass Index measurements (IQR) | 2 (1–3) | 1 (1–3) | 0.501 | 0.03 |
| Median number of HbA1c measurements (IQR) | 2 (1–4) | 2 (1–3) | 0.001 | 0.24 |
| Median number of glomerular filtration rate (GFR) measurements (IQR) | 2 (1–3) | 1 (1–3) | < 0.001 | 0.208 |
| Median number of lipid profile measurements (IQR) | 1 (1–2) | 1 (1–1) | 0.166 | 0.093 |
| Lab values & vital signs (in the last 12 months) | ||||
| Median systolic blood pressure (IQR) | 138 (126–148) | 138 (127–149) | 0.541 | 0.023 |
| Median diastolic blood pressure (IQR) | 76 (70–83) | 79 (72–85) | 0.005 | 0.154 |
| Median Body Mass Index (IQR) | 29 (25–32) | 28 (24–31) | 0.235 | 0.101 |
| Median HbA1c (IQR) | 6.3 (5.7–7) | 6.1 (5.6–6.9) | 0.023 | 0.1 |
| Median GFR (IQR) | 66.2 (51.4–79.7) | 68.3 (52.3–82.5) | 0.314 | 0.041 |
Abbreviations: BMI Body Mass Index, IQR Interquartile range, GFR Glomerular filtration rate, HbA1c Hemoglobin A1C, OPTICA Optimizing PharmacoTherapy in older multimorbid adults In primary CAre, FIRE Family medicine ICPC Research using Electronic medical records
1Patients who participated in the OPTICA trial
2Patients eligible to participate in the OPTICA trial based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, excludes patients who participated in the OPTICA trial
3For categorical variables we performed a Fisher’s exact text and for continuous variables a Kruskal–Wallis test was performed. P-values of < 0.05 represent that there is evidence for a statistically significant difference between the two groups
4An imbalance between the two groups was previously defined as an absolute standardize difference value > 0.2
5Chronic conditions were defined according to Lamers et al. and O’Halloran et al. [38, 39]
6Number of medications belonging to different groups defined by the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification system