Characteristics and postvisit use of health care services of patients residing in a rural setting
| Variable | No. (%) of patients* | SMD other v. palliative care | SMD other v. home care | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palliative care n = 6011 | Home care n = 6202 | Other n = 11 491 | Total n = 23 704 | |||
| Characteristic | ||||||
| Age group, yr | ||||||
| < 18 | 59 (1.0) | 14 (0.2) | 511 (4.4) | 584 (2.5) | +0.21 | +0.28 |
| 18–39 | 73 (1.2) | 58 (0.9) | 839 (7.3) | 970 (4.1) | +0.30 | +0.32 |
| 40–64 | 1322 (22.0) | 715 (11.5) | 2152 (18.7) | 4189 (17.7) | −0.08 | +0.20 |
| 65–79 | 2491 (41.4) | 1883 (30.4) | 3128 (27.2) | 7502 (31.6) | −0.30 | −0.07 |
| ≥ 80 | 2066 (34.4) | 3532 (56.9) | 4861 (42.3) | 10 459 (44.1) | +0.16 | −0.30 |
| Female sex | 2859 (47.6) | 3633 (58.6) | 6540 (56.9) | 13 032 (55.0) | +0.19 | −0.03 |
| Neighbourhood income quintile† | ||||||
| 1 (lowest) | 1245 (20.7) | 1427 (23.0) | 2510 (21.8) | 5182 (21.9) | +0.03 | −0.03 |
| 2 | 1400 (23.3) | 1480 (23.9) | 2615 (22.8) | 5495 (23.2) | −0.01 | −0.03 |
| 3 | 1360 (22.6) | 1427 (23.0) | 2472 (21.5) | 5259 (22.2) | −0.03 | −0.04 |
| 4 | 1167 (19.4) | 1056 (17.0) | 1995 (17.4) | 4218 (17.8) | −0.05 | +0.01 |
| 5 (highest) | 838 (13.9) | 811 (13.1) | 1899 (16.5) | 3548 (15.0) | +0.07 | +0.10 |
| Limited proficiency in English or French | 18 (0.3) | 8 (0.1) | 30 (0.3) | 56 (0.2) | 0.01 | +0.03 |
| Immigrant | 63 (1.0) | 32 (0.5) | 114 (1.0) | 209 (0.9) | 0.01 | +0.06 |
| Comorbidity count | ||||||
| Low (≤ 5) | 43 (0.7) | 102 (1.6) | 950 (8.3) | 1095 (4.6) | +0.37 | +0.31 |
| Moderate (6–9) | 804 (13.4) | 1119 (18.0) | 4432 (38.6) | 6355 (26.8) | +0.60 | +0.47 |
| High (≥ 10) | 5164 (85.9) | 4981 (80.3) | 6109 (53.2) | 16 254 (68.6) | −0.76 | −0.60 |
| Comorbidities | ||||||
| Dementia | 682 (11.3) | 1796 (29.0) | 2210 (19.2) | 4688 (19.8) | +0.22 | −0.23 |
| Mental health condition | 198 (3.3) | 388 (6.3) | 759 (6.6) | 1345 (5.7) | +0.15 | +0.01 |
| Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease | 2491 (41.4) | 2740 (44.2) | 3578 (31.1) | 8809 (37.2) | −0.22 | −0.27 |
| Congestive heart failure | 1319 (21.9) | 1975 (31.8) | 1894 (16.5) | 5188 (21.9) | −0.14 | −0.36 |
| Asthma | 857 (14.3) | 1050 (16.9) | 1978 (17.2) | 3885 (16.4) | +0.08 | +0.01 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 1838 (30.6) | 2305 (37.2) | 3035 (26.4) | 7178 (30.3) | −0.09 | −0.23 |
| Post partum or post birth | ‡ | ‡ | 52 (0.5) | ‡ | 0.07 | 0.09 |
| Resource Utilization Band | ||||||
| Low (≤ 2) | 43 (0.7) | 102 (1.6) | 950 (8.3) | 1095 (4.6) | +0.37 | +0.31 |
| Moderate (3) | 804 (13.4) | 1119 (18.0) | 4432 (38.6) | 6355 (26.8) | +0.60 | +0.47 |
| High (4–5) | 5164 (85.9) | 4981 (80.3) | 6109 (53.2) | 16 254 (68.6) | −0.76 | −0.60 |
| No. of previous outpatient visits, median (IQR) | 25 (13–43) | 14 (7–24) | 9 (4–16) | 13 (6–24) | −1.11 | −0.52 |
| Emergency department visit in previous 30 d | 2790 (46.4) | 2178 (35.1) | 2405 (20.9) | 7373 (31.1) | −0.56 | −0.32 |
| Hospital discharge in previous 30 d | 2214 (36.8) | 1908 (30.8) | 1313 (11.4) | 5435 (22.9) | −0.62 | −0.49 |
| No. of home care visits in previous 30 d | ||||||
| 0 | 1431 (23.8) | 0 (0.0) | 10 801 (94.0) | 12 232 (51.6) | +2.04 | +5.60 |
| 1 | 318 (5.3) | 0 (0.0) | 690 (6.0) | 1008 (4.3) | +0.03 | +0.36 |
| ≥ 2 | 4262 (70.9) | 6202 (100.0) | 0 (0.0) | 10 464 (44.1) | −2.21 | 0 |
| Primary care attachment | ||||||
| Formally enrolled | 4878 (81.2) | 5148 (83.0) | 9206 (80.1) | 19 232 (81.1) | −0.03 | −0.07 |
| Other | 934 (15.5) | 935 (15.1) | 1958 (17.0) | 3827 (16.1) | +0.04 | +0.05 |
| No primary care | 199 (3.3) | 119 (1.9) | 327 (2.8) | 645 (2.7) | −0.03 | +0.06 |
| Home visit physician was enrolling primary care physician | 2493 (41.5) | 3985 (64.3) | 6330 (55.1) | 12 808 (54.0) | +0.27 | −0.19 |
| Home visit physician was in same group as enrolled primary care physician | 749 (12.5) | 416 (6.7) | 812 (7.1) | 1977 (8.3) | −0.18 | +0.01 |
| Home visit physician was same as enrolled primary care physician or in same group | 3242 (53.9) | 4401 (71.0) | 7142 (62.2) | 14 785 (62.4) | +0.17 | −0.19 |
| Home visit physician was known to patient from visit in previous year | 4281 (71.2) | 5131 (82.7) | 8267 (71.9) | 17 679 (74.6) | +0.02 | −0.26 |
| Postvisit use of health care services | ||||||
| No. of repeat home visits in subsequent year, median (IQR) | 1 (0–4) | 1 (0–3) | 0 (0–2) | 1 (0–3) | −0.33 | −0.22 |
| No. of repeat home visits in subsequent year | ||||||
| 0 | 2278 (37.9) | 2537 (40.9) | 6001 (52.2) | 10 816 (45.6) | +0.29 | +0.23 |
| 1 | 995 (16.6) | 1222 (19.7) | 1938 (16.9) | 4155 (17.5) | +0.01 | −0.07 |
| 2 | 639 (10.6) | 653 (10.5) | 980 (8.5) | 2272 (9.6) | −0.07 | −0.07 |
| ≥ 3 | 2099 (34.9) | 1790 (28.9) | 2572 (22.4) | 6461 (27.3) | −0.28 | −0.15 |
| No. of repeat home visits with same physician in subsequent year | ||||||
| 0 | 2658 (44.2) | 2833 (45.7) | 6309 (54.9) | 11 800 (49.8) | +0.21 | +0.19 |
| 1 | 1077 (17.9) | 1195 (19.3) | 1895 (16.5) | 4167 (17.6) | −0.04 | −0.07 |
| 2 | 635 (10.6) | 611 (9.9) | 938 (8.2) | 2184 (9.2) | −0.08 | −0.06 |
| ≥ 3 | 1641 (27.3) | 1563 (25.2) | 2349 (20.4) | 5553 (23.4) | −0.16 | −0.11 |
| Outpatient visit within 30 d | 2307 (38.4) | 2138 (34.5) | 4141 (36.0) | 8586 (36.2) | −0.05 | +0.03 |
| Emergency department visit in previous 30 d | 1274 (21.2) | 1594 (25.7) | 1887 (16.4) | 4755 (20.1) | −0.12 | −0.23 |
| Urgent hospital admission in previous 30 d | 918 (15.3) | 916 (14.8) | 786 (6.8) | 2620 (11.1) | −0.27 | −0.26 |