Table 3.
Patient and provider characteristics over time: GMF vs. non-GMF
| QC | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GMF | Non-GMF | |||||||
| 2006 | 2010 | 2014 | 2018 | 2006 | 2010 | 2014 | 2018 | |
| Patient characteristics | ||||||||
| N | 110,434 | 339,807 | 587,022 | 784,561 | 785,594 | 663,080 | 571,228 | 556,711 |
| Age (mean (sd)) | 74.9 (6.5) | 75.0 (6.8) | 74.9 (7.0) | 74.8 (7.0) | 74.8 (6.6) | 75.0 (6.9) | 74.9 (7.2) | 74.9 (7.2) |
| Female | 58.9% | 57.4% | 56.4% | 55.2% | 58.0% | 56.9% | 55.4% | 54.7% |
| Rural | 28.1% | 26.1% | 25.9% | 24.1% | 20.6% | 19.1% | 17.3% | 18.5% |
| Unique prescribers (mean (sd)) | 4.9 (2.2) | 5.4 (2.6) | 5.7 (2.7) | 5.6 (2.5) | 4.8 (2.2) | 5.3 (2.6) | 5.5 (2.7) | 5.4 (2.5) |
| Unique drugs prescribed (mean (sd))a | 6.6 (4.2) | 6.8 (4.5) | 7.0 (4.6) | 6.9 (4.7) | 6.0 (4.3) | 6.3 (4.6) | 6.4 (4.8) | 6.4 (4.8) |
| Primary care visits (mean (sd)) | 6.0 (8.7) | 5.6 (8.8) | 5.1 (8.4) | 4.6 (7.5) | 6.0 (9.1) | 5.5 (9.2) | 5.1 (9.1) | 4.7 (8.4) |
| Income quintileb | ||||||||
| Missing | 6.1% | 6.4% | 2.5% | 2.3% | 6.3% | 6.6% | 2.8% | 2.6% |
| 1 (highest) | 10.5% | 13.0% | 13.3% | 15.1% | 12.2% | 13.1% | 14.5% | 15.5% |
| 2 | 17.0% | 18.6% | 18.1% | 19.3% | 16.7% | 17.2% | 16.6% | 17.0% |
| 3 | 19.3% | 20.3% | 21.5% | 21.7% | 20.8% | 20.7% | 20.0% | 20.0% |
| 4 | 23.5% | 21.8% | 22.9% | 21.8% | 21.9% | 21.1% | 22.6% | 22.2% |
| 5 (lowest) | 23.7% | 19.8% | 21.7% | 19.9% | 22.1% | 21.3% | 23.5% | 22.7% |
| Provider characteristicsc | ||||||||
| N | 943 | 2,354 | 3,552 | 4,435 | 3,720 | 3,085 | 2,272 | 2,128 |
| Years in practice (mean (sd)) | 18.9 (9.5) | 20.7 (10.7) | 21.6 (12.1) | 20.6 (13.4) | 21.2 (9.2) | 23.4 (10.6) | 25.2 (11.9) | 24.4 (14.0) |
| Female | 49% | 51% | 55% | 59% | 43% | 46% | 49% | 53% |
| Mean older (66+) patients per physicianc | 111.7 | 129.9 | 159.7 | 163 | 186.7 | 168.9 | 193.6 | 199.8 |
aUnique drugs defined according to ATC code (3rd level). bArea-level deprivation measures were only available in QC in 2006 and 2016. We report the 2006 index in data years 2006/10, and the 2016 index in data years 2014/18. cCaptures only providers who interact with patients in our sample (not illustrative of all QC family physicians). Likewise, statistics on the number of patients per physician reflects only patients in our sample (these numbers would increase substantially if we were to look at the general population)