Article Figures & Tables
Tables
- Table 1: Demographic and baseline characteristics of 1849 survey respondents, by number of chronic conditions
Characteristic Group, % (95% CI)* Total 1 chronic condition ≥ 2 chronic conditions Total — 67.8 (64.8–70.8) 32.2 (29.2–35.2) Sex, male 49.9 (46.0–53.8) 47.9 (43.1–52.7) 54.2 (48.0–60.4) Age category, yr 40–64 48.8 (45.7–52.1) 54.4 (50.3–58.5) 37.2 (31.1–43.4) 65–74 26.9 (23.9–29.8) 25.4 (21.7–29.0) 30.0 (24.7–35.4) ≥ 75 24.3 (21.5–27.0) 20.2 (16.9–23.6) 32.7 (27.0–38.4) Rural residence 17.5 (14.6–20.5) 17.1 (13.4–20.9) 18.3 (14.1–22.5) Household income < $30 000 21.8 (18.9–24.7) 18.5 (15.2–21.8) 28.6 (23.1–34.1) $30 000–$54 999 27.4 (24.3–30.4) 23.8 (20.2–27.3) 34.9 (29.5–40.4) $55 000–$94 999 24.9 (21.5–28.4) 27.0 (22.4–31.6) 20.6 (15.7–25.4) ≥ $95 000 26.0 (22.3–29.6) 30.7 (25.8–35.6) 15.9 (11.4–20.4) Median household income, $ 55 000 63 000 43 000 Marital status Married/common-law 66.9 (63.2–70.6) 69.2 (64.7–73.7) 62.2 (56.6–67.8) Widowed/separated/divorced/single 33.1 (29.4–36.8) 30.8 (26.3–35.3) 37.8 (32.2–43.4) Level of education Did not graduate from high school 21.3 (18.6–24.1) 18.7 (15.5–21.9) 26.8 (21.6–32.0) Graduated from high school and/or completed some postsecondary education 22.0 (18.9–25.1) 22.3 (18.3–26.2) 21.5 (16.2–26.8) Graduated from a postsecondary program (did not complete a Bachelor’s degree) 37.7 (33.9–41.5) 37.1 (32.2–42.0) 38.8 (33.0–44.6) Completed a Bachelor’s or higher degree 19.0 (15.6–22.4) 21.9 (17.3–26.5) 12.9 (9.1–16.7) BMI category† Normal/underweight 23.3 (19.8–26.7) 24.7 (20.3–29.2) 20.0 (14.7–25.4) Overweight 36.7 (32.5–40.8) 38.0 (32.9–43.2) 33.7 (27.6–29.9) Obese 40.1 (36.2–44.0) 37.2 (32.2–42.3) 46.2 (40.1–52.3) Mean BMI 29.4 (29.1–29.6) 28.9 (28.6–29.2) 30.3 (29.8–30.8) Province of residence British Columbia 44.5 (41.3–47.7) 43.8 (39.2–48.4) 46.0 (40.7–51.3) Alberta 31.7 (28.8–34.6) 33.9 (29.8–37.9) 27.0 (22.5–31.6) Saskatchewan 10.8 (9.4–12.1) 9.7 (8.0–11.5) 13.0 (9.7–16.2) Manitoba 13.0 (11.1–15.0) 12.6 (9.9–15.4) 14.0 (10.1–17.9) Ethnic origin White 86.7 (83.5–89.9) 87.3 (83.2–91.4) 85.4 (80.6–90.1) Aboriginal 4.2 (2.9–5.5) 3.3 (1.8–4.9) 6.0 (3.3–8.7) Other 9.1 (6.0–12.2) 9.4 (5.3–13.4) 8.7 (4.6–12.7) Self-perceived health Excellent/very good 36.8 (33.0–40.6) 43.8 (38.7–48.9) 22.1 (17.1–27.1) Good 40.2 (36.1–44.2) 41.1 (35.7–46.4) 38.3 (32.1–44.5) Fair/poor 23.0 (20.1–25.9) 15.1 (12.0–18.3) 39.6 (33.5–45.6) Type of chronic condition‡ Hypertension 82.1 (79.3–84.8) 63.5 (60.0–67.0) 36.5 (33.0–40.0) Diabetes 26.3 (23.7–28.9) 33.4 (27.0–39.7) 66.6 (60.3–73.0) Heart disease 21.5 (18.7–24.3) 29.6 (23.0–36.2) 70.4 (63.8–77.0) Stroke 8.0 (6.4–9.6) 9.0 (3.0–15.1) 91.0 (84.9–97.0) Note: BMI = body mass index, CI = confidence interval. *Unless stated otherwise. All proportions (%) and 95% CIs were weighted and bootstrapped as per Statistics Canada guidelines. N values for subgroups are therefore not meaningful and have been excluded. †BMI was corrected for self-report bias. (8) ‡The percentages in the final 2 columns reflect the proportion of respondents with that chronic condition who had 1 or more than 1 of the chronic conditions.
Primary care resource Group, % (95% CI)* Total 1 chronic condition ≥ 2 chronic conditions Have a regular medical doctor Yes 95.1 (93.2–97.1) 94.2 (91.4–96.9) 97.2 (95.2–99.2) No 4.9 (2.9–6.8) 5.8 (3.1–8.6) 2.8 (0.8–4.8) Frequency of care by the same physician or nurse Always 78.0 (74.5–81.5) 76.4 (71.8–81.1) 81.3 (76.4–86.2) Often, sometimes, rarely or never 22.0 (18.5–25.5) 23.6 (18.9–28.2) 18.7 (13.8–23.5) Availability of after-hours access to primary care physician Yes 31.9 (27.9–36.0) 34.1 (28.6–39.5) 27.6 (22.5–32.8) No 68.1 (64.0–72.1) 65.9 (60.5–71.4) 72.4 (67.2–77.5) Other health professionals (e.g., nurse practitioners, nutritionists) in the primary care physician’s office Yes 24.2 (20.9–27.4) 22.9 (18.9–26.9) 26.8 (21.1–32.5) No 75.8 (72.6–79.1) 77.1 (73.1–81.1) 73.2 (67.5–78.9) Other professionals involved in care in past 12 mo Yes 6.1 (4.6–7.6) 4.3 (2.8–5.8) 9.9 (6.6–13.2) No 93.9 (92.4–95.4) 95.7 (94.2–97.2) 90.1 (86.8–93.4) Contact with a nurse in the prior 12 mo, for care or advice about chronic condition Never 85.5 (82.5–88.5) 87.2 (83.6–90.9) 81.9 (77.0–86.8) ≥ 1 contacts 14.5 (11.5–17.5) 12.8 (9.1–16.4) 18.1 (13.2–23.0) Willing to see a nurse practitioner if primary care physician not available Yes 87.3 (84.7–90.0) 87.8 (84.5–91.1) 86.3 (82.0–90.6) No 12.7 (10.0–15.3) 12.2 (8.9–15.5) 13.7 (9.4–18.0) Note: CI = confidence interval. *All proportions and 95% confidence intervals are weighted and bootstrapped as per Statistics Canada guidelines. All items were based on self-reported data.
Health care use Group, % (95% CI)*† Total 1 chronic condition ≥ 2 chronic conditions Contact with a specialist regarding the chronic condition in the prior 12 mo No contact 79.6 (76.4–82.8) 85.5 (81.9–89.1) 67.2 (61.1–73.4) ≥ 1 contacts 20.4 (17.2–23.6) 14.5 (10.9–18.1) 32.8 (26.6–38.9) Prevalence rate ratio — — 2.3 (1.7–3.1) No. of contacts, mean (95% CI) 1.03 (0.1–2.1) 0.4 (0.2–0.6) 2.3 (0.0–5.3) Reasons for not seeing a specialist Not required 70.5 (66.5–74.5) 72.5 (67.7–77.5) 64.9 (58.4–71.3) Doctor did not recommend it 28.9 (24.8–32.9) 28.3 (23.4–33.3) 30.3 (23.9–36.8) Other reason 4.4 (2.8–6.0) 2.5 (1.3–3.6) 9.5 (4.7–14.3) Either not required or doctor did not recommend it 96.1 (94.6–97.7) 98.1 (97.1–99.1) 91.0 (86.2–95.7) No. of different physicians and specialists seen in the prior 12 mo 0 or 1 75.9 (72.3–79.6) 80.2 (75.6–84.7) 66.9 (71.2–72.7) > 1 24.1 (20.4–27.7) 19.8 (15.3–24.4) 33.1 (27.3–38.8) No. of emergency department visits for the chronic condition in the prior 12 mo 0 91.9 (89.9–93.9) 94.6 (92.4–96.8) 86.1 (81.9–90.3) ≥ 1 8.1 (6.1–10.1) 5.4 (3.2–7.6) 13.9 (9.7–18.1) Respondent thought last emergency department visit for the chronic condition could have been avoided if regular provider had been available No 97.1 (95.8–98.3) 98.0 (97.0–99.0) 95.0 (91.7–98.3) Yes 2.9 (1.7–4.2) 2.0 (1.0–3.0) 5.0 (1.7–8.3) Admission to hospital in prior 12 mo for chronic condition No 95.2 (93.7–96.7) 98.2 (96.9–99.4) 88.9 (84.9–93.0) Yes 4.8 (3.3–6.3) 1.8 (0.6–3.1) 11.1 (7.0–15.1) Note: CI = confidence interval. *Unless stated otherwise. †All proportions and 95% CIs are weighted and bootstrapped as per Statistics Canada guidelines. All items were based on self-reported data.
Outcome* PRR or OR (95% CI)† p value No regular medical doctor, PRR Obese 3.0 (1.6–6.0) 0.001 Age < 65 yr 2.5 (1.4–4.7) 0.003 Male 1.8 (0.9–3.8) 0.09 Other health care professionals in primary care physician’s office involved in care, PRR Diabetes 3.5 (2.2–5.7) < 0.001 Rural residence 1.7 (1.1–2.8) 0.02 Poorer self-perceived health 1.9 (1.1–3.1) 0.02 Province of residence British Columbia 1.3 (0.6–2.8) 0.5 Alberta 2.8 (1.2–6.3) 0.02 Saskatchewan 2.3 (1.0–5.7) 0.06 Manitoba (reference) 1.0 Contact with a nurse about chronic condition in prior 12 mo, PRR Diabetes 3.2 (2.2–4.7) < 0.001 Heart disease 1.4 (1.0–2.1) 0.06 Respondent thought that last emergency department visit for the chronic condition could have been avoided if regular provider had been available, OR Household income < $30 000 3.6 (1.5–8.4) 0.003 No regular doctor 6.8 (1.2–37) 0.03 Heart disease 2.7 (1.2–6.2) 0.02 Stroke 4.3 (1.3–15) 0.002 Note: CI = confidence interval, OR = odds ratio, PRR = prevalence rate ratio. *Each outcome was modelled in a separate multivariable model, consisting only of the variables listed for that model. All items were based on self-reported data. †All estimates and 95% CIs are weighted and bootstrapped as per Statistics Canada guidelines.
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