Managed care and patient ratings of the quality of specialty care among patients with pain or depressive symptoms

Table 1 Baseline Characteristics of Patients Receiving Specialty Care in 6-Month Follow-up Period

Measure	Patients with Pain Seeing Specialists for Pain (n = 466)	Patients with Depressive Symptoms Seeing Mental Health Specialists (n = 184)	Patients with Pain and Depressive Symptoms Seeing Mental Health Specialists or Specialists for Pain (n = 322)	pvalue
Patient Characteristics
Age	51 (16.0)	42 (12.9)	45 (13.9)	<.001
Female	63%	74%	76%	<.001
Nonwhite	9%	9%	14%	.029
Living alone	31%	49%	41%	<.001
Employed	63%	68%	64%	.511
Education (years)	15 (2.5)	14 (2.3)	14 (2.5)	.001
Annual household income	$52,159 (28,291)	$38,206 (25,523)	$40,575 (27,967)	<.001
Number comorbidities	2.5 (1.8)	2.1 (1.8)	3.0 (2.1)	<.001
MD at waiting room screen is patient's usual source of medical care	81%	83%	84%	.481
Baseline Pain Symptoms (percent)
Joint, arm, or leg pain	40		31	.020
Back pain	29		30	.719
Sinus, ear, or facial pain	8		10	.192
Abdominal pain	9		7	.441
Chest pain	5		4	.628
Headache and migraine	6		12	.002
Pain from indigestion and constipation	3		2	.139
Pelvic pain	2		4	.082
Baseline Pain
Pain interference	4.7 (2.9)		6.2 (2.6)	<.001
Pain bothersomeness	6.7 (2.7)		7.5 (2.3)	<.001
Restricted activity days due to physical health	4.8 (7.6)		10.0 (10.3)	<.001
Patients seeing primary physician first time for pain problem at baseline visit	46%		33%	.001
Patients with visits to any health professional for pain problem in 6 moths before baseline visit	60%		79%	<.001
Baseline Depression
SCL Depression Score		2.0 (.7)	1.7 (.6)	<.001
Restricted activity days due to emotional health		8.0 (8.9)	7.1 (8.9)	.262
Patients with visits to a mental health specialist in past 6-months		65%	38%	<.001

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