Table 1 List of independent variables used in the analyses. NPR = Norwegian Patient Registry, KUHR = Control and Payment of Reimbursement to Health Service Providers, RGPR = Regular General Practitioner registry, MEPJ = municipality electronic patient journal
Variable | Definition | Source |
|---|---|---|
Frequency of outpatient care per year, respiratory diagnoses | ||
Contact with GP, respiratory diagnoses | Number of contacts with respiratory diagnoses | KUHR |
Emergency room contacts, respiratory diagnoses | Number of contacts with municipal emergency room | KUHR |
Contact with contract specialist, respiratory diagnoses | Number of contacts | KUHR |
Contact with physiotherapist, respiratory diagnoses | Number of contacts with general physiotherapist, manual physiotherapist, occupational therapist | KUHR |
Outpatient contact with hospital, respiratory diagnoses | Number of contacts | NPR |
Rehabilitation, respiratory diagnoses | Number of out- and inpatient rehabilitation contacts in hospital and private clinics | NPR |
Frequency of healthcare per year, non-respiratory diagnoses | ||
Contact with GP, non-respiratory diagnoses | Number of contacts with non-respiratory diagnoses | KUHR |
Emergency room contacts, non-respiratory diagnoses | Number of contacts with municipal emergency room | KUHR |
Contact with contract specialist, non-respiratory diagnoses | Number of contacts | KUHR |
Contact with physiotherapist, non-respiratory diagnoses | Number of contacts with general physiotherapist, manual physiotherapist, occupational therapist | KUHR |
Outpatient contact with hospital, non-respiratory diagnoses | Number of contacts | NPR |
Rehabilitation, non-respiratory diagnoses | Number of rehabilitation contacts, including home-based and short-term rehabilitation from the municipality | NPR/MEPJ |
Hospital admissions, non-respiratory diagnoses | Number of hospital admissions with non-respiratory diagnoses | NPR |
Outpatient care indicators per year | ||
Continuity of GP care | Continuity of care index (COCI) for GP contact dispersion on scale 0–1. Higher values imply contact with fewer unique GPs, thus better continuity. | KUHR |
Spirometry | Indicator of spirometry performed at least once at GP or contract specialist during the year | KUHR |
Early rehabilitation, respiratory diagnoses | Three categories: Rehabilitation within 30 days following at least one COPD hospital admission; only later rehabilitation (up to 6 months) after COPD hospital admissions; no COPD hospital admissions or admissions with rehabilitation during the year | NPR/MEPJ |
Early follow-up by GP, respiratory diagnoses | Three categories: Contact with GP within 30 days after at least one COPD hospital admission; no or later follow-up only; no COPD hospital admissions during year | NPR/MEPJ |
Care interaction, respiratory diagnoses | Indicator of fees for interaction between either GP/specialist, GP/long-term care or GP/physiotherapist at least once during year | KUHR |
Home visits by GP or physiotherapist, respiratory diagnoses | Number of home visits by GP or physiotherapist performed during the year | KUHR |
Characteristics of the regular GP | ||
GP specialist | Indicator of GP being a specialist in general practice | RGPR |
GP group practice | Indicator of GP practicing in a location shared with other GPs | RGPR |
List length | Number of individuals on the GP’s patient list | RGPR |
Contact rate GP and contract specialist, respiratory diagnoses | Contract specialist contacts per year per listed patient in sample | KUHR/RGPR |
Contact rate GP and physiotherapist, respiratory diagnoses | Physiotherapist contacts per year per listed patient in sample | KUHR/RGPR |
Contact rate GP and outpatient hospital, respiratory diagnoses | Outpatient hospital contacts per year per listed patient in sample | NPR/RGPR |
Other health factors | ||
Comorbidities | Yearly indicators for each of 17 comorbidities commonly associated with COPD, see Table S1 for details | NPR/KUHR |
Need-score for assistance in daily living | Yearly sum score of items in the activities of daily living (ADL) checklist at start of follow-up year, assume score of 0 if not receiving any long-term care service | MEPJ |
Home nursing | Yearly indicator of receiving home nursing | MEPJ |
Nursing home | Yearly indicator of being in nursing home | MEPJ |
Death | Yearly death indicator yes/no to capture deteriorating health near end of life | Cause of Death Registry |
Socioeconomics and -demographics | ||
Updated yearly | Age and gross income | Statistics Norway |
Constant | Gender, marital status when entering sample, highest attained education, indicator of permanent disability pension prior to or during follow-up | Statistics Norway |