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Table 4 Associations of patient and physician’s characteristics with high utilization of visits to a gastroenterology consultant

From: Correlates of gastroenterology health-services utilization among patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease: a large database analysis

Variable Unadjusted OR (95% CI) P value Adjusted OR (95% CI) P value*
Sex, females vs. males 1.32 (1.28–1.36) < 0.001 1.43 (1.38–1.48) < 0.001
Age, years Df = 5 < 0.001 Df = 5 < 0.001
 19–34 Reference   Reference  
 35–44 1.04 (0.98–1.10) 0.2 1.00 (0.94–1.06) 0.9
 45–54 1.14 (1.07–1.21) < 0.001 0.96 (0.90–1.02) 0.2
 55–64 1.61 (1.52–1.70) < 0.001 1.12 (1.05–1.19) 0.001
 65–74 2.42 (2.29–2.56) < 0.001 1.39 (1.30–1.49) < 0.001
 75+ 3.88 (3.63–4.14) < 0.001 1.81 (1.66–1.96) < 0.001
Country of birth Df = 4 < 0.001 Df = 4 < 0.001
 Israel Reference   Reference  
 Former Soviet Union 1.04 (0.99–1.08) 0.054 0.77 (0.74–0.81) < 0.001
 Asia/North Africa 1.79 (1.68–1.91) < 0.001 1.21 (1.13–1.30) < 0.001
 Europe/Americas 1.45 (1.36–1.53) < 0.001 0.92 (0.86–0.98) 0.01
 Other/ unknown 1.43 (1.31–1.56) < 0.001 0.99 (0.90–1.09) 0.9
Residential district Df = 5 < 0.001 Df = 5 < 0.001
 Center Reference   Reference  
 Jerusalem 2.23 (2.07–2.41) < 0.001 2.10 (1.92–2.30) < 0.001
 North 0.95 (0.89–1.01) 0.09 0.81 (0.75–0.88) < 0.001
 Haifa 0.84 (0.79–0.89) < 0.001 0.80 (0.74–0.86) < 0.001
 Tel Aviv 1.05 (1.01–1.09) 0.009 0.99 (0.94–1.05) 0.8
 South 1.31 (1.24–1.37) < 0.001 1.24 (1.17–1.31) < 0.001
SES of place of residence
 Middle/High (5–10) Reference   Reference  
 Low (1–4) 1.33 (1.27–1.38) < 0.001 0.85 (0.80–0.89) < 0.001
Background diseases
 Heart disease (reference = no) 3.10 (2.98–3.23) < 0.001 2.28 (2.18–2.39) < 0.001
 Hypertension (reference = no) 1.99 (1.93–2.06) < 0.001 1.24 (1.19–1.29) < 0.001
 Diabetes (reference = no) 2.00 (1.92–2.09) < 0.001 1.28 (1.22–1.35) < 0.001
Number of PPIs purchases
 Low (0–8) Reference   Reference  
 High (9+) 1.94 (1.88–2.00) < 0.001 1.47 (1.42–1.53) < 0.001
Primary care physician board certification Df = 3 < 0.001 Df = 3 < 0.001
 Family medicine Reference   Reference  
 None 0.99 (0.95–1.03) 0.5 0.95 (0.90–0.99) 0.01
 Internal medicine 0.97 (0.93–1.01) 0.2 0.99 (0.94–1.04) 0.7
 Other 0.97 (0.87–1.09) 0.6 0.99 (0.88–1.12) 0.9
Board certification of the clinic physician-manager Df = 4 < 0.001 Df = 4 < 0.001
 Family medicine Reference   Reference  
 None 1.33 (1.24–1.41) < 0.001 1.47 (1.37–1.59) < 0.001
 Internal medicine 0.90 (0.85–0.96) 0.001 0.94 (0.88–1.00) 0.05
 Medical Director 0.94 (0.90–0.99) 0.01 0.99 (0.94–1.05) 0.8
 Other 0.90 (0.86–0.95) < 0.001 0.96 (0.90–1.02) 0.2
Primary care physician seniority
 Low (0–8 years) Reference   Reference  
 High (9–43 years) 0.95 (0.92–0.98) 0.001 0.98 (0.94–1.02) 0.3
  1. CI confidence interval, Df degrees of freedom, OR odds ratio, PPIs proton pump inhibitors, SES socioeconomic status
  2. Missing data: Residential district (205 patients); SES (3733 patients)
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Israel Journal of Health Policy Research

ISSN: 2045-4015