Baseline characteristics of Ontario patients who received at least 1 virtual visit in 2012, 2016 or 2020, and those who received no virtual visits in 2020
| Characteristic | Received at least 1 virtual visit; no. (%) of patients | p value | Did not receive any virtual visit in 2020; no. (%) of patients n = 3 162 395 | p value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 n = 51 186 | 2016 n = 146 104 | 2020 n = 4 927 830 | ||||
| Age category, yr | < 0.001 | < 0.001 | ||||
| < 18 | 3379 (6.6) | 10 217 (7.0) | 523 361 (10.6) | 776 881 (24.6) | ||
| 18–49 | 27 028 (52.8) | 74 561 (51.0) | 1 822 278 (37.0) | 1 227 511 (38.8) | ||
| 50–64 | 10 874 (21.2) | 34 954 (23.9) | 1 232 489 (25.0) | 616 658 (19.5) | ||
| 65–79 | 7437 (14.5) | 19 956 (13.7) | 992 640 (20.1) | 378 914 (12.0) | ||
| ≥ 80 | 2468 (4.8) | 6416 (4.4) | 357 062 (7.2) | 162 431 (5.1) | ||
| Sex | < 0.001 | < 0.001 | ||||
| Female | 25 270 (49.4) | 73 102 (50.0) | 2 786 826 (56.6) | 1 628 796 (51.5) | ||
| Male | 25 916 (50.6) | 73 002 (50.0) | 2 141 004 (43.4) | 1 533 599 (48.5) | ||
| Region | < 0.001 | < 0.001 | ||||
| Central | 4609 (9.0) | 18 403 (12.6) | 1 707 781 (34.7) | 1 053 216 (33.3) | ||
| East | 17 556 (34.3) | 38 709 (26.5) | 1 229 707 (25.0) | 741 447 (23.4) | ||
| North | 20 389 (39.8) | 45 413 (31.1) | 238 786 (4.8) | 177 070 (5.6) | ||
| Toronto | 1963 (3.8) | 4337 (3.0) | 454 743 (9.2) | 266 088 (8.4) | ||
| West | 6669 (13.0) | 39 242 (26.9) | 1 296 813 (26.3) | 924 574 (29.2) | ||
| Income quintile | < 0.001 | < 0.001 | ||||
| 1 (lowest) | 13 658 (26.7) | 41 111 (28.1) | 943 988 (19.2) | 629 119 (19.9) | ||
| 2 | 10 182 (19.9) | 30 966 (21.2) | 974 288 (19.8) | 616 595 (19.5) | ||
| 3 | 9563 (18.7) | 27 545 (18.9) | 1 002 696 (20.3) | 638 517 (20.2) | ||
| 4 | 8362 (16.3) | 23 974 (16.4) | 999 831 (20.3) | 643 322 (20.3) | ||
| 5 (highest) | 8961 (17.5) | 22 247 (15.2) | 999 455 (20.3) | 625 919 (19.8) | ||
| Missing | 460 (0.9) | 261 (0.2) | 7572 (0.2) | 8923 (0.3) | ||
| Level of rurality (RIO score) | < 0.001 | < 0.001 | ||||
| Urban (< 40) | 33 356 (65.2) | 112 721 (77.2) | 4 604 587 (93.4) | 2 924 122 (92.5) | ||
| Rural (≥ 40) | 14 666 (28.6) | 27 145 (18.6) | 290 401 (5.9) | 204 317 (6.5) | ||
| Missing | 3164 (6.2) | 6238 (4.3) | 32 842 (0.7) | 33 956 (1.1) | ||
Note: RIO = Rurality Index for Ontario.