Table 3.
Arthritis patients’ characteristics according to their CareT group membership.
| Population characteristics | #1. High utilization/specialists 2,756 (16.57) |
#2. Moderate utilization/ED 2,928 (17.61) |
#3. Very high utilization/
arthritis-related hospitalizations 1,570 (9.44) |
#4. Moderate utilization/arthritis-related physicians 2,708 (16.28) |
#5. Low utilization 6,669 (40.10) |
p-valuea |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age—mean ± SD | 67.89 ± 12.91 | 66.08 ± 13.21 | 68.71 ± 12.99 | 66.47 ± 12.95 | 63.23 ± 13.82 | <.0001 Post-hoc differences: 1–2, 1–4, 1–5, 2–3, 2–5, 3–4, 3–5, 4–5 |
| Sex—n (%) | <.0001 Post-hoc differences: 1–5, 2–5, 3–5, 4–5 | |||||
| Females | 1,906 (69.16) | 2,014 (68.78) | 1,117 (71.15) | 1,909 (70.49) | 4,142 (62.11) | |
| Males | 850 (30.84) | 914 (31.22) | 453 (28.85) | 799 (29.51) | 2,527 (37.89) | |
| Education level—n (%) | <.0001 | |||||
| No high school diploma | 1,075 (39.77) | 1,075 (37.35) | 667 (43.26) | 1,038 (38.99) | 2,292 (34.92) | |
| High school diploma | 390 (14.43) | 460 (15.98) | 214 (13.88) | 396 (14.88) | 995 (15.16) | |
| Post-secondary diploma | 867 (32.08) | 894 (31.06) | 474 (30.74) | 853 (32.04) | 2,235 (34.05) | |
| University diploma | 371 (13.73) | 449 (15.60) | 187 (12.13) | 375 (14.09) | 1,041 (15.86) | |
| Household income (CAN$)—n (%) | <.0001 | |||||
| <20 000 | 733 (26.60) | 691 (23.60) | 489 (31.15) | 605 (22.34) | 1,400 (20.99) | |
| 20 000–39 999 | 950 (34.47) | 984 (33.61) | 560 (35.67) | 942 (34.79) | 2,040 (30.59) | |
| 40 000–59 999 | 513 (18.61) | 561 (19.16) | 273 (17.39) | 541 (19.98) | 1,310 (19.64) | |
| 60 000–79 999 | 267 (9.69) | 311 (10.62) | 125 (7.96) | 288 (10.64) | 811 (12.16) | |
| ≥80 000 | 293 (10.63) | 381 (13.01) | 123 (7.83) | 332 (12.26) | 1,108 (16.61) | |
| Region of residence—n (%) | <.0001 Post-hoc differences: 1–5, 2–5, 3–5, 4–5, 1–2, 3–2, 4–3 | |||||
| Remote region | 597 (21.66) | 735 (25.10) | 293 (18.66) | 645 (23.82) | 1,854 (27.80) | |
| Non-remote region | 2,159 (78.34) | 2,193 (74.90) | 1,277 (81.34) | 2,063 (76.18) | 4,815 (72.20) | |
| Access to a pain clinic– n (%) | <.0001 Post-hoc differences: 1–5, 2–5, 3–5, 4–5 | |||||
| Yes | 190 (6.89) | 212 (7.24) | 110 (7.01) | 172 (6.35) | 310 (4.66) | |
| No | 2,566 (93.11) | 2,716 (92.76) | 1,460 (92.99) | 2,536 (93.65) | 6,344 (95.34) | |
| Rheumatoid arthritis medical claims—n (%) | <.0001 Post-hoc differences: 1–5, 2–5, 3–5, 4–5, 1–4, 2–4, 3–4 | |||||
| Yes | 190 (6.89) | 155 (5.30) | 92 (5.86) | 245 (9.05) | 253 (3.90) | |
| No | 2,566 (93.11) | 2,772 (94.70) | 1,478 (94.14) | 2,462 (90.95) | 6,238 (96.10) | |
| Osteoarthritis medical claims—n (%) | <.0001 Post-hoc differences: 1–5, 2–5, 3–5, 4–5, 1–2, 3–2, 4–2 | |||||
| Yes | 945 (34.29) | 865 (29.55) | 561 (35.73) | 889 (32.84) | 1,349 (20.78) | |
| No | 1,811 (65.71) | 2,062 (70.45) | 1,009 (64.27) | 1,818 (67.16) | 5,142 (79.22) | |
| Medical claims related to other arthritis conditions except Rheumatoid arthritis and Osteoarthritis– n (%) | <.0001 Post-hoc differences: 1–2, 1–3, 1–5, 2–3, 2–4, 2–5, 3–4, 3–5, 4–5 | |||||
| Yes | 1,241 (45.03) | 1,097 (37.48) | 855 (54.46) | 1,170 (43.22) | 1,751 (26.98) | |
| No | 1,515 (54.97) | 1,830 (62.52) | 715 (45.54) | 1,537 (56.78) | 4,740 (73.02) | |
| Charlson comorbidity index– mean ± SD | 1.03 ± 2.04 | 0.51 ± 1.44 | 1.85 ± 2.73 | 0.48 ± 1.32 | 0.18 ± 0.83 | <.0001 |
| Number of GP ambulatory visits (all cause)—mean ± SD | 4.90 ± 3.34 | 3.03 ± 2.17 | 7.00 ± 5.54 | 4.03 ± 3.07 | 1.71 ± 1.68 | <.0001 Post-hoc differences: 1–2, 1–3, 1–4, 1–5, 2–3, 2–4, 2–5, 3–4, 3–5, 4–5 |
| Number of specialists ambulatory (all cause) visits—mean ± SD | 5.95 ± 5.63 | 2.73 ± 2.88 | 11.03 ± 14.97 | 4.38 ± 4.29 | 1.32 ± 1.87 | <.0001 Post-hoc differences: 1–2, 1–3, 1–4, 1–5, 2–3, 2–4, 2–5, 3–4, 3–5, 4–5 |
| Number of episode of hospitalizations (all cause)—mean ± SD | 0.39 ± 0.76 | 0.17 ± 0.49 | 0.58 ± 0.94 | 0.30 ± 0.63 | 0.09 ± 0.34 | <.0001 Post-hoc differences: 1–2, 1–3, 1–4, 1–5, 2–3, 2–4, 2–5, 3–4, 3–5, 4–5 |
| Number of ED visits (all cause)—mean ± SD | 0.91 ± 1.61 | 0.48 ± 0.97 | 1.42 ± 2.12 | 0.70 ± 1.34 | 0.29 ± 0.71 | <.0001 Post-hoc differences: 1–2, 1–3, 1–4, 1–5, 2–3, 2–4, 2–5, 3–4, 3–5, 4–5 |
P-values < .05 are reported in bold.
SD: Standard deviation.
a
Chi-square tests or Kruskal-Wallis tests with Tukey style multiple comparisons of proportions or Dwass-Steel-Critchlow-Fligner tests for post-hoc pairwise analyses.
Proportion of missing data across presented variable ranges between 0% and 4.46%.