Table 1.
Baseline Characteristics of Study Participants by Outpatient Follow‐up Status During the COVID‐19 Pandemic
|
No follow‐up (N=3711) |
Early follow‐up (N=3207) |
P value Early vs no follow‐up |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Overall (N=3207) |
In person (N=2681) |
Telemedicine (N=526) |
|||
| Sociodemographic characteristics | |||||
| Age, y, median (IQR) | 67 (19) | 69 (19) | 69 (19) | 70 (19) | <0.001 |
| Female sex | 1685 (45.4) | 1477 (46.1) | 1219 (45.5) | 258 (49.1) | 0.588 |
| Race | 0.051 | ||||
| Non‐Hispanic White | 1912 (51.5) | 1738 (54.2) | 1471 (54.9) | 267 (50.8) | |
| Non‐Hispanic Black | 1510 (40.7) | 1252 (39.0) | 1031 (38.5) | 221 (42.0) | |
| Other || | 289 (7.8) | 217 (6.8) | 179 (6.7) | 38 (7.2) | |
| Currently married † | 1694 (45.7) | 1495 (46.6) | 1282 (47.8) | 213 (40.5) | 0.420 |
| Insurance ‡ | <0.001 | ||||
| Medicare fee‐for‐service | 1504 (40.5) | 1412 (44.0) | 1157 (43.2) | 255 (48.5) | |
| Medicare Advantage | 1112 (30.0) | 967 (30.2) | 805 (30.0) | 162 (30.8) | |
| Medicaid | 366 (9.9) | 238 (7.4) | 190 (7.1) | 48 (9.1) | |
| Other § | 729 (19.6) | 590 (18.4) | 529 (19.7) | 61 (11.6) | |
| Disadvantaged neighborhood | 594 (16.0) | 376 (11.7) | 307 (11.5) | 69 (13.1) | <0.001 |
| Diagnosis and procedures | |||||
| Acute myocardial infarction † | 263 (7.1) | 252 (7.9) | 227 (8.5) | 25 (4.8) | 0.223 |
| Angina | 1944 (52.4) | 1796 (56.0) | 1512 (56.4) | 284 (54.0) | 0.003 |
| Stroke or transient ischemic attack | 114 (3.1) | 105 (3.3) | 92 (3.4) | 13 (2.5) | 0.632 |
| Atrial fibrillation or flutter | 1337 (36.0) | 1524 (47.5) | 1274 (47.5) | 250 (47.5) | <0.001 |
| Mitral or aortic valvular disease ‡ | 739 (19.9) | 766 (23.9) | 675 (25.2) | 91 (17.3) | <0.001 |
| Peripheral vascular disease | 509 (13.7) | 465 (14.5) | 381 (14.2) | 84 (16.0) | 0.350 |
| Hypertension | 3370 (90.8) | 2979 (92.9) | 2484 (92.7) | 495 (94.1) | 0.002 |
| Diabetes | 1916 (51.6) | 1636 (51.0) | 1358 (50.7) | 278 (52.9) | 0.609 |
| Hyperlipidemia | 2215 (59.7) | 2154 (67.2) | 1785 (66.6) | 369 (70.2) | <0.001 |
| Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ‡ | 948 (25.6) | 832 (25.9) | 661 (24.7) | 171 (32.5) | 0.706 |
| Renal disease | 1893 (51.0) | 1632 (50.9) | 1367 (51.0) | 265 (50.4) | 0.919 |
| Depression | 800 (21.6) | 702 (21.9) | 586 (21.9) | 116 (22.1) | 0.738 |
| Dementia | 309 (8.3) | 222 (6.9) | 176 (6.6) | 46 (8.8) | 0.029 |
| Coronary artery bypass graft surgery* | 88 (2.4) | 112 (3.5) | 103 (3.8) | 9 (1.7) | 0.006 |
| Percutaneous coronary intervention † | 98 (2.6) | 113 (3.5) | 106 (4.0) | 7 (1.3) | 0.033 |
| Permanent pacemaker | 17 (0.5) | 32 (1.0) | 29 (1.1) | 3 (0.6) | 0.008 |
| Implantable cardioverter‐defibrillator | 37 (1.0) | 54 (1.7) | 47 (1.8) | 7 (1.3) | 0.012 |
| Laboratory values | |||||
| Estimated glomerular filtration rate, mL/min per 1.73 m2 | <0.001 | ||||
| ≥60 | 1637 (44.1) | 1378 (43.0) | 1136 (42.4) | 242 (46.0) | |
| 45–60 | 587 (15.8) | 622 (19.4) | 518 (19.3) | 104 (19.8) | |
| 30–45* | 539 (14.5) | 544 (17.0) | 471 (17.6) | 73 (13.9) | |
| <30 | 896 (24.1) | 650 (20.3) | 546 (20.4) | 104 (19.8) | |
| Unknown | 52 (1.4) | 13 (0.4) | 10 (0.4) | 3 (0.6) | |
| Potassium, mEq/L | <0.001 | ||||
| <4.0 | 1632 (44.0) | 1431 (44.6) | 1182 (44.1) | 249 (47.3) | |
| 4.0–4.9 | 1789 (48.2) | 1574 (49.1) | 1329 (49.6) | 245 (46.6) | |
| ≥5.0 | 255 (6.9) | 196 (6.1) | 165 (6.2) | 31 (5.9) | |
| Unknown | 35 (0.9) | 6 (0.2) | 5 (0.2) | 1 (0.2) | |
| Hemoglobin, g/dL | <0.001 | ||||
| <10.0 | 1341 (36.1) | 1028 (32.1) | 867 (32.3) | 161 (30.6) | |
| 10.0–11.9 | 1138 (30.7) | 1013 (31.6) | 847 (31.6) | 166 (31.6) | |
| ≥12.0 | 1194 (32.2) | 1158 (36.1) | 962 (35.9) | 196 (37.3) | |
| Unknown | 38 (1.0) | 8 (0.3) | 5 (0.2) | 3 (0.6) | |
| Medications | |||||
| Beta blocker † | 2951 (79.5) | 2697 (84.1) | 2275 (84.9) | 422 (80.2) | <0.001 |
| Angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitor/angiotensin II receptor blocker/angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitor | 1038 (28.0) | 1028 (32.1) | 876 (32.7) | 152 (28.9) | <0.001 |
| Hydralazine | 929 (25.0) | 711 (22.2) | 605 (22.6) | 106 (20.2) | 0.005 |
| Loop diuretics | 2623 (70.7) | 2545 (79.4) | 2136 (79.7) | 409 (77.8) | <0.001 |
| Aldosterone antagonist | 795 (21.4) | 916 (28.6) | 771 (28.8) | 145 (27.6) | <0.001 |
| Statin | 2519 (67.9) | 2314 (72.2) | 1939 (72.3) | 375 (71.3) | 0.001 |
| Aspirin † | 2464 (66.4) | 2261 (70.5) | 1917 (71.5) | 344 (65.4) | <0.001 |
| Health care use | |||||
| Principal heart failure hospitalizations | 683 (18.4) | 929 (29.0) | 799 (29.8) | 130 (24.7) | <0.001 |
| Admission through emergency department | 2447 (66.0) | 2313 (72.1) | 1905 (71.1) | 408 (77.6) | <0.001 |
| Length of stay, median (IQR) | 4.17 (5.0) | 4.6 (5.2) | 4.58 (5.2) | 4.7 (5.1) | <0.001 |
| Discharge destination ‡ | 0.438 | ||||
| Home without home health | 2626 (70.6) | 2242 (70.0) | 1918 (71.5) | 324 (61.6) | |
| Home with home health | 1085 (29.2) | 965 (30.1) | 763 (28.5) | 202 (38.4) | |
| Hospitalizations in the past year † | 1779 (48.0) | 1604 (50.0) | 1305 (48.7) | 299 (56.8) | 0.085 |
| Has a primary care provider on file | 2992 (80.6) | 2935 (91.5) | 2450 (91.4) | 485 (92.2) | <0.001 |
| Discharge date ‡ | |||||
| Early‐outbreak period | 149 (4.0) | 112 (3.5) | 75 (2.8) | 37 (7.0) | 0.514 |
| Stay‐at‐home period | 265 (7.1) | 362 (11.3) | 128 (4.8) | 106 (20.2) | |
| Reopening period | 3297 (88.8) | 2861 (89.2) | 2478 (92.4) | 383 (72.8) | |
| 30‐d readmission | 856 (23.1) | 456 (14.2) | 377 (14.1) | 79 (15.0) | <0.001 |
| 30‐d readmission or mortality | 921 (24.8) | 471 (14.7) | 386 (14.4) | 85 (16.2) | <0.001 |
P values: comparisons between in person vs telemedicine. IQR indicates interquartile range.
Note, Categorical variables reported as n (%) and continuous variables reported as median (interquartile range).
*
P<0.05.
†
P<0.01.
‡
P<0.00.
§
Self‐pay N=4.
||
Other includes Hispanic/Latino, Asian, American Indian/Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, 2 or More Races, Not Reported, or Other.