Correlation of regional health provider counts and health care utilization among study patients with regional major amputation rates
| Measure | Range of values across 14 regions | Pearson correlation coefficient (95% CI)* |
|---|---|---|
| No. of health providers per capita within each region† | ||
| Vascular surgeons | 0 to 1.9 | −0.44 (−0.78 to 0.14) |
| Chiropodists and podiatrists | 3.7 to 36.6 | −0.38 (−0.75 to 0.20) |
| Orthopedic surgeons | 5.5 to 15.0 | 0.17 (−0.40 to 0.64) |
| Vascular, general and orthopedic surgeons | 14.1 to 33.4 | 0.26 (−0.32 to 0.69) |
| General surgeons | 8.3 to 16.5 | 0.42 (−0.14 to 0.78) |
| Health provider visit among study patients (at least 1 visit within 1 yr before hospital admission for index amputation)‡ | ||
| Vascular surgeon | 5.5 to 58.8 | −0.66 (−0.88 to −0.17) |
| Publicly funded podiatrist§ | 0.0 to 8.4 | −0.34 (−0.73 to 0.25) |
| Vascular, general or orthopedic surgeon | 57.4 to 81.9 | −0.29 (−0.71 to 0.29) |
| Primary care physician | 90.4 to 97.1 | 0.05 (−0.50 to 0.56) |
| Orthopedic surgeon | 16.4 to 33.2 | 0.25 (−0.33 to 0.68) |
| Specialist physician (excluding vascular, general and orthopedic surgeons) | 91.0 to 95.4 | 0.43 (−0.15 to 0.78) |
| General surgeon | 10.1 to 43.1 | 0.54 (−0.01 to 0.82) |
| Health services among study patients (within 1 yr before hospital admission for index amputation) | ||
| Endovascular or open vascular intervention | 5.7 to 27.5 | −0.84 (−0.95 to −0.54) |
| Endovascular intervention | 2.7 to 18.5 | −0.82 (−0.94 to −0.49) |
| Open vascular intervention | 4.4 to 19.5 | −0.51 (−0.81 to 0.05) |
| Outpatient nursing care | 48.7 to 79.6 | −0.47 (−0.79 to 0.10) |
| Total health care costs, $ | 45 103 to 69 483 | −0.39 (−0.76 to 0.19) |
| Hospital admission (at least 1) | 58.2 to 70.8 | −0.10 (−0.60 to 0.45) |
| Minor amputation | 8.2 to 20.4 | 0.34 (−0.25 to 0.73) |
| Emergency department visit (at least 1) | 83.6 to 91.2 | 0.50 (−0.06 to 0.81) |
| Intervention during hospital admission for index amputation | ||
| Endovascular or open vascular intervention | 4.2 to 21.0 | −0.81 (−0.93 to −0.46) |
| Open vascular intervention | 1.8 to 13.7 | −0.74 (−0.91 to −0.32) |
| Endovascular intervention | 3.0 to 13.4 | −0.65 (−0.87 to −0.16) |
Note: CI = confidence interval.
↵* Negative coefficient denotes an inverse linear relationship. The magnitude of specific correlations can be interpreted according to the following criteria (where r is the absolute value of the coefficient): 0.1< r ≤ 0.3 denotes weak correlation; 0.3< r ≤ 0.5 denotes moderate correlation; r > 0.5 denotes strong correlation.22
↵† Counts of providers per 100 000 residents ≥ 40 years of age.
↵‡ Excluding 30 days before amputation.
↵§ Most podiatry and chiropody services are not publicly funded in Ontario.