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Table 2 Comparison of last visit characteristics among patients retained, discharged, and defaulted

From: Into the abyss: diabetes process of care indicators and outcomes of defaulters from a Canadian tertiary care multidisciplinary diabetes clinic

Last visit characteristics Overall (N = 193) Retained (R) (N = 59) Discharged (D/C) (N = 46) Defaulted (DF) (N = 88) Overall p-value R vs. D/C R vs. DF D/C vs. DF
Macrovascular complications         
 CAD (%) 45 (23.8) 17 (29.3) 9 (20.0) 19 (22.1) 0.4802    
 PVD (%) 14 (7.5) 6 (10.2) 1 (2.3) 7 (8.2) 0.3081    
 CVA/TIA (%) 12 (6.3) 7 (12.1) 1 (2.2) 4 (4.6) 0.1305 0.1336 0.1164 0.4980
 Any macrovascular complications (%) 57 (30.0) 23 (39.0) 10 (22.2) 24 (27.9) 0.1539    
Microvascular complications         
 Nephropathy (%) 65 (35.7) 24 (40.7) 11 (25.6) 30 (37.5) 0.2635    
 Retinopathy (%) 31 (18.8) 14 (25.6) 2 (5.1) 15 (21.7) 0.0406 0.0121 0.7080 0.0228
 Neuropathy (%) 50 (27.3) 15 (25.9) 7 (15.9) 28 (34.6) 0.0785 0.2261 0.2735 0.0265
 Any microvascular complications (%) 95 (53.7) 31 (53.5) 16 (37.2) 48 (63.2) 0.0243 0.1057 0.2576 0.0064
Disease status (last visit):         
 HbA1c (%)(mean, SD) 7.6 (1.6) 7.8 (1.8) 6.6 (0.9) 7.9 (1.5) <0.0001 <0.0001 0.7069 <0.0001
 HbA1c (IFCC units mmol/mol) 60 62 49 63     
 HbA1c ≤ 7.0% or 53 mmol/mol (%) 86 (46.2) 25 (42.4) 37 (84.1) 24 (28.9) <0.0001 <0.0001 0.0964 <0.0001
 Change in HbA1c (%) (mean, SD) −0.90 (1.7) −0.74 (1.75) −1.28 (1.87) −0.80 (1.69) 0.2480    
 Weight (kg) (mean, SD) 94.5 (23.3) 94.3 (21.8) 88.8 (21.2) 97.6 (25.0) 0.1289 0.2074 0.4183 0.0495
 Change in weight (mean, SD) 0.8 (5.1) 1.6 (5.6) 0.3 (5.3) 0.4 (4.7) 0.2978    
 BMI 33.9 (7.7) 34.2 (7.4) 32.5 (7.2) 34.5 (8.2) 0.3726    
 SBP (mean, SD) 139.2 (19.8) 141.7 (21.8) 133.4 (17.9) 140.5 (18.9) 0.0712 0.0390 0.7263 0.0376
 DBP (mean, SD) 73.1 (9.6) 71.8 (9.6) 72.4 (10.4) 74.2 (9.1) 0.2828    
 Total Chol (mean, SD) 4.5 (1.4) 4.4 (1.2) 4.4 (1.1) 4.7 (1.6) 0.2377    
 HDL-C (mean, SD) 1.2 (0.3) 1.1 (0.3) 1.2 (0.3) 1.2 (0.3) 0.6053    
 LDL-C (mean, SD) 2.3 (1.0) 2.4(1.0) 2.3 (1.0) 2.3 (1.0) 0.8984    
 Triglycerides (median, QR) 1.8 (1.2–2.7) 1.7 (1.3–2.5) 1.8 (1.2–2.5) 1.9 (1.3–3.2) 0.3467    
 TC:HDL-C (mean, SD) 4.1 (1.4) 4.03 (1.2) 3.82 (1.2) 4.31 (1.6) 0.1874    
 Smoker (%) 33 (18.8) 6 (10.9) 7 (16.3) 20 (25.6) 0.0897 0.4367 0.0349 0.2365
Last visit medications:         
 On insulin (%) 75 (38.9) 37 (62.7) 7 (15.2) 31 (35.2) <0.0001 <0.0001 0.0011 0.0147
 On ACE-I/ARB (%) 144 (74.6) 48 (81.4) 33 (71.7) 63 (71.6) 0.3604    
 On ASA (%) 94 (48.7) 37 (62.7) 20 (43.5) 37 (42.1) 0.0351 0.0497 0.0140 0.8734
 On Statin (%) 146 (75.7) 49 (83.1) 37 (80.4) 60 (68.2) 0.0825 0.7297 0.0436 0.1320
Clinic activity         
 Median duration of follow-up (months) 16 (6 to 31) 33(31 to 35) 10 (4 to 18) 9 (5 to 17) <0.0001 <0.0001 <0.0001 0.8827
 % of MD visits where meds changed (Mean, SD) 48.7 (30.0) 55.2 (23.1) 34.4 (25.7) 51.8 (33.9) 0.0007 <0.0001 0.5037 0.0027
 % of patient encounters that were no-shows (Median, IQR) 14.3 (0 to 33.3) 8.3 (0 to 16.7) 0 (0 to 14.3) 30 (13.8 to 50.0) <0.0001 0.1112 <0.0001 <0.0001
 Number of visits with MD (mean, SD) 4.9 (3.1) 8.1 (2.8) 3.3 (1.9) 3.7 (2.0) <0.0001 <0.0001 <0.0001 0.2907
 Number of visits with RN (mean, SD) 2.5 (2.1) 3.7 (2.6) 2.1 (1.7) 2.0 (1.7) <0.0001 0.0006 <0.0001 0.6919
 Number of visits with RD (mean, SD) 2.4 (2.0) 3.5 (2.5) 2.2 (1.9) 1.7 (1.3) <0.0001 0.0036 <0.0001 0.1053
  1. Note: p-values significant at 5%, with Bonferroni adjustment for pairwise comparisons, are printed in bold type, R Retained, D/C Discharged, DF Defaulted, CAD Coronary artery disease, PVD Peripheral vascular disease, CVA Cerebral vascular accident, TIA Transient ischemic attack, HbA1c Glycated hemoglobin, kg kilograms, BMI Body mass index, SBP Systolic blood pressure, DBP Diastolic blood pressure, HDL-C High-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, TC:HDL-C Total cholesterol to HDL-cholesterol ratio, LDL-C Low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, ACE-I Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, ARB Angiotensin receptor blocker (antagonist), ASA Acetylsalicylic acid, MD Medical doctor, RN Registered nurse, RD Registered dietitian, SD Standard deviation, IQR Interquartile range.
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BMC Health Services Research

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