Table 1 Baseline characteristics, stratified by province, for people with an incident prescription for an antihypertensive medication, dyslipidemia medication, antihyperglycemic medication, and anticoagulation medication*
| Â | Ontario | Alberta | Nova Scotia | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Baseline Period | Recent Period | Stand diff | Baseline Period | Recent Period | Stand diff | Baseline Period | Recent Period | Stand diff | |
| Â | n (%) unless otherwise specified | ||||||||
Individuals with an incident prescription for an antihypertensive medication | |||||||||
Population size, N | 261,527 | 61,674 | Â | 82,693 | 12,700 | Â | 18,611 | 7025 | Â |
Age, median years (Q1-Q3) | 72 (68–78) | 72 (68–77) | 0.072 | 73 (69–79) | 72 (69–78) | 0.088 | 71 (68–77) | 71 (68–75) | 0.132 |
Female | 145,410 (55.6) | 34,768 (56.4) | 0.016 | 44,853 (54.2) | 7053 (55.5) | 0.026 | 10,361 (55.7) | 3,803 (54.1) | 0.031 |
Neighborhood income quintile | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | 0.030 |
Highest | 52,022 (19.9) | 13,108 (21.3) | 0.034 | Not available | Not available | Â | 3273 (17.6) | 1298 (18.5) | |
Next to highest | 49,781 (19.0) | 12,233 (19.8) | 0.020 | Â | Â | Â | 3698 (19.9) | 1348 (19.2) | |
Middle | 52,874 (20.2) | 12,390 (20.1) | 0.003 | Â | Â | Â | 3741 (20.1) | 1446 (20.6) | |
Next to lowest | 54,208 (20.7) | 12,247 (19.9) | 0.022 | Â | Â | Â | 4133 (22.2) | 1547 (22.0) | |
Lowest | 51,951 (19.9) | 11,518 (18.7) | 0.030 | Â | Â | Â | 3707 (19.9) | 1370 (19.5) | |
Unknown | 691 (0.3) | 178 (0.3) | 0.005 | Â | Â | Â | 59 (0.3) | 16 (0.2) | |
Rural residence | 7,864 (12.8) | 2,204 (13.7) | 0.027 | 20,018 (24.2) | 2734 (21.5) | 0.064 | 7912 (42.5) | 2829 (40.3) | 0.052 |
Long-term care in prior 6 months | 4534 (1.7) | 828 (1.3) | 0.032 | 1244 (1.5) | 71 (0.56) | 0.094 | 507 (2.7) | 100 (1.4) | 0.091 |
Hospitalization < 6 months before index date | 17,526 (6.7) | 4157 (6.7) | 0.002 | 12,240 (14.8) | 1534 (12.1) | 0.080 | 1911 (10.3) | 664 (9.5) | 0.028 |
Charlson comorbidity index < 2 or missing | 244,274 (93.4) | 58,073 (94.2) | 0.031 | 71,114 (86.0) | 11,496 (90.5) | 0.141 | 11,273 (60.6) | 4,518 (64.3) | 0.077 |
Polypharmacy | 42,913 (16.4) | 10,157 (16.5) | 0.002 | 16,663 (20.2) | 2742 (21.6) | 0.035 | 6816 (36.6) | 2439 (34.7) | 0.040 |
Any hospitalization during 1-year follow-up | 39,022 (14.9) | 7753 (12.6) | 0.068 | 14,875 (18.0) | 1763 (13.9) | 0.112 | 2684 (14.4%) | 849 (12.1%) | 0.069 |
Individuals with an incident prescription for a dyslipidemia medication | |||||||||
Population size, N | 249,313 | 66,767 | Â | 68,053 | 13,076 | Â | 17,211 | 7304 | Â |
Age, median years (Q1-Q3) | 71 (68–76) | 71 (68–75) | 0.089 | 72 (68–77) | 72 (68–76) | 0.075 | 71 (68–76) | 70 (68–75) | 0.117 |
Female | 133,896 (53.7) | 36,956 (55.4) | 0.033 | 33,766 (49.6) | 6932 (53.0) | 0.068 | 9714 (56.4) | 4028 (55.1) | 0.026 |
Neighborhood income quintile | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | 0.047 |
Highest | 49,142 (19.7) | 14,315 (21.4) | 0.043 | Not available | Not available | Â | 2875 (16.7) | 1346 (18.4) | |
Next to highest | 47,769 (19.2) | 13,465 (20.2) | 0.025 | Â | Â | Â | 3385 (19.7) | 1430 (19.6) | |
Middle | 50,091 (20.1) | 13,304 (19.9) | 0.004 | Â | Â | Â | 3560 (20.7) | 1494 (20.5) | |
Next to lowest | 52,082 (20.9) | 13,377 (20.0) | 0.021 | Â | Â | Â | 3853 (22.4) | 1598 (21.9) | |
Lowest | 49,655 (19.9) | 12,132 (18.2) | 0.044 | Â | Â | Â | 3491 (20.1) | 1419 (19.4) | |
Unknown | 574 (0.2) | 174 (0.3) | 0.006 | Â | Â | Â | 47 (0.3) | 17 (0.2) | |
Rural residence | 27,834 (11.2) | 8023 (12.0) | 0.027 | 15,408 (22.6) | 2776 (21.2) | 0.034 | 7,122 (41.4) | 3,015 (41.3) | 0.012 |
Long-term care in prior 6 months | 1,812 (0.7) | 424 (0.6) | 0.011 | 549 (0.8) | 62 (0.5) | 0.042 | 289 (1.7) | 64 (0.9) | 0.072 |
Hospitalization < 6 months before index date | 13,685 (5.5) | 3794 (5.7) | 0.008 | 10,919 (16.0) | 1713 (13.1) | 0.084 | 1691 (9.8) | 627 (8.6) | 0.043 |
Charlson comorbidity index < 2 or missing | 233,585 (93.7) | 62,884 (94.2) | 0.021 | 56,533 (83.1) | 11,473 (87.7) | 0.133 | 10,009 (58.2) | 4,630 (63.4) | 0.107 |
Polypharmacy | 57,168 (22.9) | 14,916 (22.3) | 0.014 | 18,031 (26.5) | 3677 (28.1) | 0.036 | 7,580 (44.0) | 2,861 (39.2) | 0.099 |
Any hospitalization during 1-year follow-up | 31,789 (12.8) | 7037 (10.5) | 0.069 | 11,926 (17.5) | 1773 (13.6) | 0.110 | 2,348 (13.6%) | 794 (10.9%) | 0.085 |
Individuals with an incident prescription for an antihyperglycemic medication | |||||||||
Population size, N | 102,955 | 31,080 | Â | 28,616 | 4862 | Â | 6195 | 2700 | Â |
Age, median years (Q1-Q3) | 72 (68–77) | 72 (68–77) | 0.023 | 72 (68–77) | 72 (68–77) | 0.048 | 71 (68–76) | 71 (68–75) | 0.037 |
Female | 52,141 (50.6) | 15,632 (50.3) | 0.007 | 13,471 (47.1) | 2231 (45.9) | 0.024 | 3105 (50.1) | 1295 (48.0) | 0.043 |
Neighborhood income quintile | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | 0.068 |
Highest | 17,431 (16.9) | 5537 (17.8) | 0.023 | Not available | Not available | Â | 952 (15.4) | 465 (17.2) | |
Next to highest | 19,052 (18.5) | 6043 (19.4) | 0.024 | Â | Â | Â | 1236 (19.9) | 515 (19.1) | |
Middle | 21,093 (20.5) | 6267 (20.2) | 0.008 | Â | Â | Â | 1221 (19.7) | 562 (20.8) | |
Next to lowest | 22,378 (21.7) | 6701 (21.6) | 0.004 | Â | Â | Â | 1469 (23.7) | 591 (21.9) | |
Lowest | 22,741 (22.1) | 6453 (20.8) | 0.032 | Â | Â | Â | 1301 (21.0) | 556 (20.6) | |
Unknown | 260 (0.3) | 79 (0.3) | 0 | Â | Â | Â | 16 (0.3) | 11 (0.4) | |
Rural residence | 11,199 (10.9) | 3393 (10.9) | 0.001 | 7083 (24.8) | 1001 (20.6) | 0.100 | 2672 (43.1) | 1095 (40.6) | 0.053 |
Long-term care in prior 6 months | 2116 (2.1) | 482 (1.6) | 0.038 | 358 (1.3) | 25 (0.5) | 0.079 | 142 (2.3) | 43 (1.6) | 0.051 |
Hospitalization < 6 months before index date | 5832 (5.7) | 1948 (6.3) | 0.025 | 2975 (10.4) | 470 (9.7) | 0.024 | 504 (8.1) | 177 (6.6) | 0.061 |
Charlson comorbidity index < 2 or missing | 92,516 (89.9) | 28,086 (90.4) | 0.017 | 22,125 (77.3) | 4063 (83.6) | 0.158 | 2,546 (41.1) | 1,167 (43.2) | 0.043 |
Polypharmacy | 39,342 (38.2) | 12,997 (41.8) | 0.074 | 10,778 (37.7) | 1925 (39.6) | 0.040 | Â | Â | Â |
Any hospitalization during 1-year follow-up | 13,219 (12.8) | 3462 (11.1) | 0.052 | 4695 (16.4) | 673 (13.8) | 0.072 | 864 (13.9%) | 314 (11.6%) | 0.069 |
Individuals with a diagnosis of atrial fibrillation and incident prescription for an anticoagulant medication | |||||||||
Population size, N | 61,561 | 16,086 | Â | 15,435 | 2622 | Â | 1534 | 561 | Â |
Age, median years (Q1-Q3) | 77 (71–84) | 76 (71–83) | 0.049 | 78 (72–84) | 77 (71–84) | 0.037 | 75 (70–81) | 73 (69–79) | 0.183 |
Female | 33,690 (54.7) | 8580 (53.3) | 0.028 | 8083 (52.4) | 1397 (53.3) | 0.018 | 767 (50.0) | 265 (47.2) | 0.055 |
Neighborhood income quintile | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | 0.102 |
Highest | 12,475 (20.3) | 3430 (21.3) | 0.026 | Not available | Not available | Â | 263 (17.1) | 117 (20.9) | |
Next to highest | 11,193 (18.2) | 3064 (19.0) | 0.022 | Â | Â | Â | 281 (18.3) | 103 (18.4) | |
Middle | 12,167 (19.8) | 3172 (19.7) | 0.001 | Â | Â | Â | 328 (21.4) | 109 (19.4) | |
Next to lowest | 12,990 (21.1) | 3236 (20.1) | 0.024 | Â | Â | Â | 350 (22.8) | 117 (20.9) | |
Lowest | 12,565 (20.4) | 3126 (19.4) | 0.024 | Â | Â | Â | 312 (20.3) | 115 (20.5) | |
Unknown | 171 (0.3) | 58 (0.4) | 0.015 | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | |
Rural residence | 7847 (12.7) | 2200 (13.7) | 0.027 | 4215 (27.3) | 695 (26.5) | 0.018 | 671 (43.7) | 216 (38.5) | 0.210 |
Long-term care in prior 6 months | 1783 (2.9) | 353 (2.2) | 0.045 | 417 (2.7) | 58 (2.2) | 0.032 | 44 (2.9) | 10 (1.8) | 0.072 |
Hospitalization < 6 months before index date | 14,343 (23.3) | 3637 (22.6) | 0.016 | 8636 (56.0) | 1528 (58.3) | 0.047 | 550 (35.9) | 188 (33.5) | 0.049 |
Charlson comorbidity index < 2 or missing | 48,692 (79.1) | 12,780 (79.4) | 0.009 | 9472 (61.4) | 1656 (63.2) | 0.037 | 747 (48.7) | 292 (52.1) | 0.067 |
Polypharmacy | 31,202 (50.7) | 7838 (48.7) | 0.039 | 7996 (51.8) | 1365 (52.1) | 0.005 | 776 (50.6) | 280 (49.9) | 0.013 |
Any hospitalization during 1-year follow-up | 17,940 (29.1) | 4372 (27.2) | 0.044 | 5468 (35.4) | 868 (33.1) | 0.049 | 253 (16.5%) | 72 (12.8%) | 0.081 |