Baseline characteristics of the study groups before and after matching
| Potential controls* | Telehealth patients | Matched controls | Standardised difference (variance ratio) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (n=26 995) | (n=716) | (n=716) | Before matching | After matching | |
| Age (years) | 69.1 (15.2) | 72.7 (10.2) | 72.7 (10.3) | 27.5 (0.45) | 0.1 (0.99) |
| Female (%) | 48.1 (n=12 978) | 42.7 (n=306) | 41.9 (n=300) | 10.7 | 1.7 |
| Socioeconomic deprivation score† | 15.1 (11.1) | 15.7 (11.1) | 15.1 (10.3) | 4.9 (1.01) | 5.4 (1.18) |
| Anaemia (%) | 11.9 (n=3204) | 14.8 (n=106) | 12.8 (n=92) | 8.6 | 5.7 |
| Angina (%) | 18 (n=4868) | 24.2 (n=173) | 22.5 (n=161) | 15.1 | 4.0 |
| Asthma (%) | 12.4 (n=3348) | 14.5 (n=104) | 13.1 (n=94) | 6.2 | 4.0 |
| Atrial fibrillation and flutter (%) | 21.7 (n=5861) | 34.4 (n=246) | 33.8 (n=242) | 28.4 | 1.2 |
| Cancer (%) | 15.1 (n=4078) | 11.5 (n=82) | 11.6 (n=83) | 10.8 | 0.4 |
| Cerebrovascular disease (%) | 10.3 (n=2784) | 9.9 (n=71) | 9.4 (n=67) | 1.3 | 1.9 |
| Congestive heart failure (%) | 22.4 (n=6045) | 43.2 (n=309) | 42.0 (n=301) | 45.4 | 2.3 |
| Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (%) | 28.6 (n=7723) | 65.2 (n=467) | 62.3 (n=446) | 78.9 | 6.1 |
| Diabetes (%) | 62.9 (n=16 970) | 29.3 (n=210) | 27.4 (n=196) | 71.4 | 4.3 |
| History of falls (%) | 12.1 (n=3255) | 8.2 (n=59) | 8.2 (n=59) | 12.7 | 0.0 |
| History of injury (%) | 24.5 (n=6613) | 20.3 (n=145) | 19.0 (n=136) | 10.2 | 3.2 |
| Hypertension (%) | 58.1 (n=15 694) | 55.7 (n=399) | 54.9 (n=393) | 4.9 | 1.7 |
| Ischaemic heart failure (%) | 28.7 (n=7760) | 40.2 (n=288) | 38.7 (n=277) | 24.3 | 3.1 |
| Kidney failure (%) | 13.0 (n=3522) | 11.7 (n=84) | 10.3 (n=74) | 4.0 | 4.5 |
| Mental health condition (%) | 24.0 (n=6477) | 18.3 (n=131) | 18.0 (n=129) | 14.0 | 0.7 |
| Peripheral vascular disease (%) | 14.6 (n=3951) | 14.5 (n=104) | 13.3 (n=95) | 0.3 | 3.6 |
| Number of long-term conditions | 2.59 (1.38) | 3.01 (1.6) | 2.86 (1.51) | 28.1 (1.34) | 9.6 (1.11) |
| Predictive risk score | 0.22 (0.16) | 0.33 (0.2) | 0.33 (0.21) | 62.2 (1.71) | 0.6 (1.00) |
| Emergency admissions (previous year) | 0.77 (1.64) | 1.34 (1.83) | 1.29 (1.71) | 33.2 (1.25) | 3.0 (1.14) |
| Emergency admissions (previous month) | 0.06 (0.3) | 0.13 (0.39) | 0.12 (0.37) | 19.3 (1.69) | 2.2 (1.11) |
| Elective admissions (previous year) | 0.74 (1.86) | 0.70 (1.39) | 0.64 (1.12) | 2.2 (0.56) | 4.8 (1.53) |
| Elective admissions (previous month) | 0.06 (0.28) | 0.05 (0.23) | 0.09 (0.32) | 2.0 (0.72) | 14.0 (0.53) |
| Outpatient attendances (previous year) | 4.97 (7.2) | 7.00 (7.29) | 6.40 (6.82) | 28.1 (1.03) | 8.5 (1.14) |
| Outpatient attendances (previous month) | 0.36 (0.9) | 0.72 (1.22) | 0.74 (1.49) | 33.2 (1.84) | 1.4 (0.67) |
| Emergency bed days (previous year) | 6.03 (15.96) | 12.02 (18.3) | 12.15 (20.25) | 34.9 (1.32) | 0.7 (0.82) |
| Emergency bed days (previous year trimmed to 30 days) | 4.42 (8.66) | 9.44 (10.39) | 9.14 (10.62) | 52.5 (1.44) | 2.9 (0.96) |
Data are proportion (%) or mean (SD) unless otherwise stated.
All diagnoses are based on an analysis of inpatient data over 3 years.
*Residents of the control areas with previous hospital use and at least one inpatient admission for a diagnosis of congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or diabetes in the past 3 years. Since individuals can be chosen as controls at different time points, this is 1-monthly realisation of each individual potential control.
†Taken from the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2010.21