Table 1 Characteristics of incident RA patients
Variable | All ages | Age 66 and older | Age 66 and older, subset who saw a rheumatologist within 1 year of diagnosis |
|---|---|---|---|
N = 112,494 | N = 37,823 | N = 30,020 | |
Number (%) of Females | 77,134 (68.6%) | 24,648 (65.2%) | 19,453 (64.8%) |
Mean age at diagnosis (SD) | 58.1 (15.5) | 74.8 (6.4) | 74.5 (6.2) |
Neighborhood income quintiles (1 = low, 5 = high) | |||
1 | 21,028 (18.8%) | 6924 (18.4%) | 5286 (17.7%) |
2 | 22,798 (20.3%) | 7809 (20.7%) | 6122 (20.5%) |
3 | 23,052 (20.6%) | 7797 (20.7%) | 6189 (20.7%) |
4 | 22,824 (20.4%) | 7471 (19.8%) | 6004 (20.1%) |
5 | 22,364 (20.0%) | 7710 (20.4%) | 6334 (21.2%) |
Number (%) living in rural areas | 15,307 (13.6%) | 5196 (13.8%) | 3955 (13.2%) |
Remote (> 100 + km) to nearest rheumatologist | 5665 (5.0%) | 1776 (4.7%) | 913 (3.0%) |
Mean (SD) rheumatologists per 75,000 adult population | 1.66 ± 1.11 | 1.70 ± 1.14 | 1.76 ± 1.14 |
Median (Q1, Q3) distance (km) to nearest rheumatologist (km) | 5 (2, 23) | 5 (2, 25) | 4 (2, 19) |
Patients living in region with at least one rheumatologist per 75,000 adults | 82,619 (73.4%) | 28,242 (74.7%) | 23,427 (78.0%) |
Comorbidity | |||
AMI | 1209 (1.1%) | 736 (2.0%) | 515 (1.7%) |
Coronary artery disease | 7830 (7.0%) | 5304 (14.0%) | 4022 (13.4%) |
Cancer | 10,479 (9.3%) | 6197 (16.4%) | 4883 (16.3%) |
Cardiovascular disease | 3483 (3.1%) | 2386 (6.3%) | 1700 (5.7%) |
CHF | 1489 (1.3%) | 1167 (3.1%) | 776 (2.6%) |
Chronic renal disease | 2552 (2.3%) | 1736 (4.6%) | 1325 (4.4%) |
COPD or asthma | 10,076 (9.0%) | 4599 (12.2%) | 3571 (11.9%) |
Diabetes | 15,689 (14.0%) | 8128 (21.5%) | 6340 (21.1%) |
DVT or pulmonary embolism | 567 (0.5%) | 305 (08%) | 228 (0.8%) |
Hypertension | 33,413 (29.7%) | 18,925 (50.0%) | 14,830 (49.4%) |
Number of ADGs | |||
< 5 | 10,428 (9.3%) | 2216 (5.9%) | 1712 (5.7%) |
5–9 | 45,336 (40.3%) | 12,972 (34.3%) | 10,316 (34.4%) |
10–14 | 43,358 (38.5%) | 16,187 (42.8%) | 12,927 (43.1%) |
15+ | 13,372 (11.9%) | 6448 (17.1%) | 5065 (16.9%) |
Frailty* | 5,557 (4.9%) | 3829 (10.1%) | 2657 (8.9%) |
Outcomes | |||
Saw rheumatologist within 1 year of diagnosis | 94,812 (84.3%) | 30,020 (77.4%) | 30,020 (100%) |
Time from diagnosis to first visit to a rheumatologist, for those who saw a rheumatologist within 1 year | |||
0 days | 59,694 (63.0%) | 19,253 (64.1%) | |
1–183 days | 31,340 (33.1%) | 9,590 (32.0%) | |
184–365 days | 3778 (4.0%) | 1177 (3.9%) | |
Filled a prescription for a DMARD within 30 days of first visit to a rheumatologist | 18,863 (62.8%) | ||