Table 2 Baseline characteristics of the 3592 hypertension patients in the intervention and control groups between 2009 and 2015
|  | Control N = 1678 | Intervention N = 1914 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Demographics | N | % | N | % |
Age | ||||
 < 60 years old | 449 | 26.8 | 474 | 24.8 |
 60 to 74 years old | 870 | 51.8 | 1044 | 54.5 |
 > 74 years old | 359 | 21.4 | 396 | 20.7 |
Sex | ||||
 Female | 891 | 53.1 | 1100 | 57.5 |
 Male | 787 | 46.9 | 814 | 42.5 |
Language | ||||
 English | 223 | 13.3 | 115 | 6.0 |
 French | 1455 | 86.7 | 1799 | 94.0 |
Estimated family income | ||||
 Low income (< $35,000) | 344 | 20.5 | 457 | 23.9 |
 Middle income ($35,000–$80,000) | 1148 | 68.4 | 1272 | 66.5 |
 High income (> $80,000) | 186 | 11.1 | 185 | 9.7 |
Comorbidity | ||||
 Charlson index value | ||||
  0 | 1121 | 66.8 | 1255 | 65.6 |
  1 | 388 | 23.1 | 443 | 23.1 |
  1+ | 169 | 10.1 | 216 | 11.3 |
 Diabetes | 292 | 17.4 | 341 | 17.8 |
 COPD | 119 | 7.1 | 153 | 7.9 |
 Any tumor (except metastatic) | 101 | 6.0 | 133 | 6.9 |
 Metastatic solid tumor | 41 | 2.4 | 30 | 1.6 |
 Connective tissue disease | 18 | 1.1 | 25 | 1.3 |
 Peripheral vascular disease | 13 | 0.8 | 17 | 0.8 |
 Dementia | 9 | 0.5 | 12 | 0.6 |
 Leukemia/lymphoma | 12 | 0.7 | 11 | 0.6 |
 Mild liver disease | 5 | 0.3 | 8 | 0.4 |
 Ulcer disease | 2 | 0.1 | 4 | 0.2 |
 Renal disease | – | – | 1 | 0.1 |
 HIV positive | 2 | 0.1 | 2 | 0.1 |
 Diabetes with end organ damage | 1 | 0.1 | 4 | 0.2 |
 Hemiplegia | 1 | 0.1 | – | – |
Health care use in the year prior to first eligible visit | Mean | SD | Mean | SD |
Medical visits | ||||
 Total number of visits | 6.3 | 6.5 | 6.3 | 6.7 |
 Mean % to study physician | 41.1 | 34.4 | 38.6 | 33.6 |
 Number of distinct physicians seen | 3.4 | 3.3 | 3.6 | 3.3 |
Prescriptions | ||||
 No. of medications prescribed | 2.3 | 3.4 | 1.4 | 2.7 |
 No. of medications dispensed | 4.6 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.6 |
 Percentage of dispensed prescribed by study physician | 49.8 | 45.2 | 50.0 | 44.9 |
Hospitalization(s) | N | % | N | % |
 Yes | 181 | 10.8 | 196 | 10.2 |
 No | 1497 | 89.2 | 1718 | 89.8 |
ER visit(s) | ||||
 Yes | 375 | 22.3 | 407 | 21.3 |
 No | 1303 | 77.7 | 1507 | 78.7 |
Status of anti-hypertensive drug use at first visit (ICD9 code = 401) | ||||
 Incidenta | 636 | 37.9 | 625 | 32.7 |
 Prevalentb | 1042 | 62.1 | 1289 | 67.3 |
Hypertension management 12Â ms before the first visit (prevalent) | Mean | SD | Mean | SD |
 No. of different anti-hypertensives prescribed | 1.3 | 0.6 | 1.3 | 0.5 |
 No. of different anti-hypertensives dispensed | 1.3 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 0.5 |
 Percentage of different dispensed anti-hypertensives prescribed by study physician | 93.6 | 19.1 | 94.3 | 17.9 |