Characteristics of patients in the fee-for-service and salaried groups during study period 2 (Apr. 1, 2005–Dec. 31, 2014)*
| Characteristic | Fee-for-service, no. (%) of patients† | Salaried, no. (%) of patients† | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before fee change 2 n = 316 | Between fee changes 2 and 3 n = 335 | After fee change 3 n = 1065 | Before fee change 2 n = 279 | Between fee changes 2 and 3 n = 236 | After fee change 3 n = 889 | |
| No. of months | 24 | 24 | 69 | 24 | 24 | 69 |
| Age, yr, mean ± SD‡ | 64.1 ± 15.5 | 62.91 ± 15.7 | 63.4 ± 14.6 | 63.1 ± 15.1 | 63.2 ± 14.1 | 61.3 ± 15.6 |
| Female sex | 132 (41.8) | 116 (34.6) | 424 (39.8) | 111 (39.8) | 84 (35.6) | 333 (37.5) |
| Income quintile§ | ¶ | |||||
| 1 (lowest) | 85 (26.9) | 87 (26.0) | 300 (28.2) | 80 (28.7) | 56 (23.7) | 238 (26.8) |
| 2 | 73 (23.1) | 78 (23.3) | 235 (22.1) | 60 (21.5) | 57 (24.2) | 208 (23.4) |
| 3 | 62 (19.6) | 66 (19.7) | 187 (17.6) | 41 (14.7) | 42 (17.8) | 153 (17.2) |
| 4 | 53 (16.8) | 60 (17.9) | 154 (14.5) | 53 (19.0) | 41 (17.4) | 133 (15.0) |
| 5 (highest) | 43 (13.6) | 42 (12.5) | 135 (12.7) | 45 (16.1) | 36 (15.2) | 124 (13.9) |
| Unknown** | 0 (0.0) | 2 (0.6) | 54 (5.1) | 0 (0.0) | 4 (1.7) | 33 (3.7) |
| Comorbidities | ||||||
| Alcohol use disorder | 19 (6.0) | 22 (6.6) | 69 (6.5) | 113 (40.5) | 21 (8.9) | 68 (7.6) |
| Cancer, nonmetastatic | 14 (4.4) | 15 (4.5) | 63 (5.9) | 11 (3.9) | 16 (6.8) | 65 (7.3) |
| Chronic heart failure†† | 150 (47.5) | 147 (43.9) | 447 (42.0) | 100 (35.8) | 93 (39.4) | 351 (39.5) |
| Chronic pulmonary disease | 101 (32.0) | 105 (31.3) | 328 (30.8) | 85 (30.5) | 96 (40.7) | 265 (29.8) |
| Dementia | 14 (4.4) | 15 (4.5) | 43 (4.0) | 6 (2.2) | 8 (3.4) | 38 (4.3) |
| Diabetes | 185 (58.5) | 201 (60.0) | 760 (71.4)¶ | 151 (54.1) | 139 (58.9) | 565 (63.6)¶ |
| Myocardial infarction | 42 (13.3) | 53 (15.8) | 167 (15.7) | 33 (11.8) | 46 (19.5) | 140 (15.7) |
| Peripheral vascular disease | 26 (8.2) | 34 (10.1) | 108 (10.1) | 24 (8.6) | 28 (11.9) | 105 (11.8) |
| Stroke/transient ischemic attack | 69 (21.8) | 65 (19.4) | 264 (24.8) | 55 (19.7) | 52 (22.0) | 211 (23.7) |
| Dialysis initiation as inpatientࠠ | 126 (39.9) | 130 (38.8) | 440 (41.3) | 89 (31.9) | 81 (34.3) | 320 (36.0) |
| Distance between patient postal code and nearest hemodialysis facility, km‡ | ||||||
| < 50 | 286 (90.5) | 299 (89.2) | 957 (89.9) | 239 (85.7) | 209 (88.6) | 776 (87.3) |
| 50–150 | 28 (8.9) | 29 (8.7) | 89 (8.4) | 37 (13.3) | 23 (9.7) | 102 (11.5) |
| > 150 | 2 (0.6) | 7 (2.1) | 19 (1.8) | 3 (1.1) | 4 (1.7) | 11 (1.2) |
| Distance between patient postal code and nearest peritoneal dialysis training centre, km‡††‡‡ | ¶ | |||||
| < 50 | 229 (72.5) | 216 (64.5) | 790 (74.2) | 199 (71.3) | 164 (69.5) | 645 (72.6) |
| 50–150 | 66 (20.9) | 84 (25.1) | 193 (18.1) | 34 (12.2) | 35 (14.8) | 99 (11.1) |
| > 150 | 21 (6.6) | 35 (10.4) | 82 (7.7) | 46 (16.5) | 37 (15.7) | 145 (16.3) |
Note: SD = standard deviation.
↵* All covariates defined based on the date of dialysis initiation. χ2 test used for categorical variables (Fisher exact test when ≥ 20% of the cells had an expected value < 5); for continuous variables, analysis of variance when comparing time intervals within group, and 2-sided 2-sample t test when comparing between groups.
↵† Except where noted otherwise.
↵‡ Significant at p < 0.05 for difference between fee-for-service and salaried groups after policy change 2.
↵§ Estimated with the use of the postal code.
↵¶ Significant at p < 0.05 for within-group difference between the 3 time periods.
↵** These patients had postal codes without neighbourhood income data available.
↵†† Significant at p < 0.05 for difference between fee-for-service and salaried groups before policy change 1.
↵‡‡ Significant at p < 0.05 for difference between fee-for-service and salaried groups in the period between policy changes 1 and 2.