Characteristics of the study population
| Characteristic | No. (%) of patients | Standardized difference | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total n = 155 754 | Incentive within the study period n = 99 215 | No incentive within the study period n = 56 539 | ||
| Sex* | ||||
| Female | 72 969 (46.8) | 46 393 (46.8) | 26 576 (47.1) | 0.01 |
| Male | 82 629 (53.1) | 52 738 (53.2) | 29 891 (52.9) | |
| Age, yr | ||||
| < 45 | 6141 (3.9) | 2451 (2.5) | 3690 (6.5) | 0.13 |
| 45–74 | 88 113 (56.6) | 57 205 (57.7) | 30 908 (54.7) | |
| ≥ 75 | 61 500 (39.5) | 39 559 (39.9) | 21 941 (38.8) | |
| No. of chronic conditions (at the end of the study period) | ||||
| 2 | 19 085 (12.3) | 10 274 (10.4) | 8811 (15.6) | −0.35 |
| 3 | 58 585 (37.6) | 37 634 (37.9) | 20 951 (37.1) | |
| 4 | 41 819 (26.8) | 27 899 (28.1) | 13 920 (24.6) | |
| 5 | 22 196 (14.3) | 14 399 (14.5) | 7797 (13.8) | |
| ≥ 6 | 14 069 (9.0) | 9009 (9.1) | 5060 (8.9) | |
| Health authority* | ||||
| Interior | 45 471 (29.2) | 28 661 (28.9) | 16 810 (28.5) | 0.22 |
| Fraser | 61 441 (39.5) | 38 128 (38.5) | 23 313 (42.0) | |
| Vancouver Coastal | 20 699 (13.3) | 13 159 (13.3) | 7540 (13.6) | |
| Vancouver Island | 19 840 (12.8) | 14 918 (15.1) | 4922 (8.7) | |
| Northern | 8139 (5.2) | 4256 (4.3) | 3883 (6.9) | |
| Timing of qualifying disease | ||||
| Before study | 51 460 (33.0) | 31 168 (31.4) | 20 292 (35.9) | 0.56 |
| Before incentives | 30 481 (19.6) | 12 584 (12.7) | 17 897 (31.7) | |
| After incentives | 73 813 (47.4) | 55 463 (55.9) | 18 350 (32.5) | |
| No. of incentives billed | ||||
| 0 | 56 559 (36.3) | – | 56 539 (100.0) | 2.87 |
| 1 | 34 004 (21.8) | 34 004 (34.3) | – | |
| 2 | 37 604 (24.1) | 37 604 (37.9) | – | |
| ≥ 3 | 27 587 (17.7) | 27 587 (27.8) | – | |
| Died within study period | 23 403 (15.0) | 6222 (6.3) | 17 181 (30.4) | −0.66 |
↵* Missing data on sex for 156 patients (0.1%) and on health authority of residence for 164 (0.11%).