Differences in the quality of oral anticoagulation therapy with vitamin K antagonists in German GP practices – results of the cluster-randomized PICANT trial (Primary Care Management for Optimized Antithrombotic Treatment)

Table 6 Linear mixed model analyses (TTR calculation based on GP-based target ranges)^a – practice-level covariates

Variables	Regression coefficient	95% confidence interval	P value^b	R ²
Male gender	−3.51	−7.54; 0.52	0.086	0.09
Age of GP, years	0.07	− 0.20; 0.34	0.621	0.09
Job experience since medical school, years	0.08	−0.18; 0.33	0.551	0.09
Practice type
Single-handed practice	Reference
Shared or group practice	−1.08	−5.06; 2.90	0.588	0.09
Panel size, registered patients per quarter, no. (%)^c			0.598	0.10
500–999	Reference
1009–1499	−2.72	−8.87; 3.43
1500–1999	−4.83	−11.37; 1.71
> 2000	− 4.19	−11.13; 2.76
Main focus of the practice^d
Cardiology	−0.41	−4.36; 3.54	0.836	0.09
Diabetology	−0.06	−4.01; 3.89	0.977	0.09
Geriatrics	−0.33	−4.61; 3.95	0.878	0.09
Natural medicine	−4.26	−9.93; 1.40	0.137	0.09
Third-party certification in quality management for medical practices (e.g. QEP)^e	−5.74	−9.47; − 2.01	0.003	0.10
Knowledge test on OAC for GPs, points^f	0.00	−1.27; 1.28	0.996	0.09
Location of the practice
Rural (< 20.000 inhabitants)	Reference
Provincial (20.000–100.000 inhabitants)	−4.14	−8.55; 0.27	0.266	0.10
Urban (> 100.000 inhabitants)	−0.97	−5.96; 4.02

^aThese analyses are based on n = 688 patients and the models are adjusted for randomization group
^bp values marked in bold are statistically significant at a significance level of 0.05
^cIn Germany, panel size is calculated as the number of patient registrations in a practice over a 3-month period
^dPractices may have had more than one focus
^eThe quality management system QEP (Qualität und Entwicklung in Praxen® [Quality and Development in practices]) was developed by the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians and regional Associations of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians
^fSelf-developed knowledge questionnaire (sum score 0–12) with higher scores indicating greater knowledge about OAC

ISSN: 1472-6963